Elia Kazan Wiki: Measurements, Height, Ethnicity, Net Worth

Known for movies

Short Info

Died	September 28, 2003, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Spouse	Frances Kazan, Barbara Loden, Molly Kazan
Mark	Frequently cast Marlon Brando and Karl Malden
Fact	Founded the Actors' Studio in 1947 along with Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis.

Elia Kazan was born in 1909 in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents. His father, George Kazanjian, was a jeweler and his mother, Athena (née Sismanoglou), was a homemaker. He had two sisters, Zoe and Stella. Kazan was educated at the Williamsburg High School in Brooklyn and then at the City College of New York. He was interested in acting from an early age and began his career as an actor in the 1930s.

Kazan’s career as a director began in the 1940s with the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He went on to direct such films as On the Waterfront, East of Eden, and A Face in the Crowd. Kazan was also active in politics and was a member of the Communist Party USA from 1934 to 1936. He later testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era.

Kazan was married three times and had four children. His first wife was actress Molly Day Thacher, with whom he had two daughters, Barbara and Judy. His second wife was actress Frances Ford Seymour, with whom he had a son, Christopher. His third wife was actress Irene Worth, with whom he had a daughter, Katharine.

Kazan died in 2003 at the age of 94.

General Info

Full Name	Elia Kazan
Died	September 28, 2003, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Height	1.73 m
Profession	Film director, Actor, Film producer, Screenwriter, Novelist, Theatre Director
Education	Yale University, Williams College

Family

Spouse	Frances Kazan, Barbara Loden, Molly Kazan
Children	Nicholas Kazan, Leo Kazan, Chris Kazan, Marco Kazan, Judy Kazan, Katharine Kazan
Parents	George Kazanjoglou, Athena Kazanjoglou
Siblings	Avraam Kazanjoglou

Accomplishments

Awards	Academy Award for Best Director, Academy Honorary Award, Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Kennedy Center Honors, Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, Grand Jury Prize, Golden Globe Awa...
Nominations	Academy Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, BAFTA Award for Best Film, Tony Award for Best Play, Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, Golden Globe Award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama
Movies	On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden, America America, Splendor in the Grass, Gentleman's Agreement, A Face in the Crowd, Baby Doll, Viva Zapata!, Wild River, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Last Tycoon, Panic in the Streets, Pinky, The Arrangement, The Sea of Grass, Man on a Tigh...
TV Shows	Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey, The Owl’s Legacy

Social profile links

IMDB	http://imdb.com/name/nm0001415

Marks

#	Marks / Signs
1	Frequently cast Marlon Brando and Karl Malden

Quotes

#	Quote
1	[from a letter to John Steinbeck, while casting East of Eden (1955)] I looked through a lot of kids before settling on this [James Dean]. He hasn't [Marlon Brando]'s stature, but he's a good deal younger and is very interesting, has balls and eccentricity and a "real problem" somewhere in his guts, I don't know what or where. He's a little bit of a bum, but he's a real good actor and I think he's the best of a poor field. Most kids who become actors at 19 or 20 or 21 are very callow and strictly from NY professional school. Dean has got a real mean streak and [a] real sweet streak.
2	[on the possibility of casting Paul Newman as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954)] This boy will definitely be a film star. He's just as good looking as [Marlon Brando] and his masculinity, which is strong, is also more actual. He's not as good an actor as Brando yet, and probably will never be. But he's a darn good actor with plenty of power, plenty of insides, plenty of sex.
3	[on the labored introspection demanded of students in Actors Studio workshops] There have been days when I felt like I would swap them all for a gang of wandering players who could dance and sing, and who were, above all else, entertainers.
4	Fredric March was as warmhearted and genuine a man as ever lived . . . Poor, blacklisted Freddie was no more a Communist than my cat.
5	[at the Group Theater, 1932] I think Franchot Tone takes pleasure in upsetting the chalice of high art here. You can't help admiring him. He's better educated, just plain smarter, than most of the others and has greater curiosity about life and boldness in dealing with his desires. I like him. Perhaps some of the self-righteous members think of Tone as a sinner because he wakes the sinner in them . . . Meanwhile, he continues as the chink in their idealism. He does what he wants and isn't a bit docile. He believe in the Group idea but is not sure it's for him; he asks questions. Despite all, the directors admire him. He could burn the place down and still be the white-haired boy. He's the only really top-grade actor here--in my opinion--and that's the problem. I mean, that's their problem, the directors: how to hold people of his talent and temperament while they get rid of three or four duds they've got here who believe! Oh, how those mediocrities believe! Oh, how they listen to Lee Strasberg and nod and smile at his quips. Me, too.
6	So it goes in America: great plans in youth, realism at the end.
7	Lee Strasberg was God almighty, he was always right, only he could tell if an actor had had it--the real thing--or not. To win Lee's favor and the reassurance it would convey was everyone's goal.
8	[of Charles Bickford] Men like that will eat a director alive, if he allows it.
9	[on Franchot Tone] He died before he should have and without fulfilling his promise or his hopes.
10	[on Marlon Brando's performance in On the Waterfront (1954)] If there is a better performance by a man in the history of film in America, I don't know what it is
11	[on working with Marlon Brando] Every word seemed not something memorized but the spontaneous expression of an inner experience--which is the level of work all actors strive to reach.
12	[on Faye Dunaway] Faye carries a cloud of drama round with her. There is something in her at hazard.
13	[on James Cagney] I learned something from Jimmy Cagney--he taught me quite a lot about acting. Jimmy taught me some things about being honest and not overdoing it. He even affected my work with ]Marlon Brando] a little bit. I mean, "Don't show it, just do it."
14	[on Kirk Douglas] He fits into being an advertising man and a driving, ruthless person better than [Marlon Brando] could have. You would always suspect Brando. Kirk's awfully bright. He's as bright a person as I've met in the acting profession.
15	[on John Ford] Orson Welles was once asked which American directors most appealed to him. "The old masters," he replied. "By which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford." Well, I studied Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), for example. As I say, John Ford had a big influence on me.
16	[on James Dean] He was sad and sulky. You kept expecting him to cry.
17	[on Marlon Brando] He was deeply rebellious against the bourgeois spirit, the over-ordering of life.
18	[on Natalie Wood] The quality I remember about her was a kind of sweetness. When her persona fitted the role you couldn't do better. She was it.
19	[on Marlon Brando] To my way of thinking, his performance in On the Waterfront (1954) is the best male performance I've ever seen in my life.
20	[on James Dean] Dean's body was very graphic; it was almost writhing in pain sometimes. He was very twisted, as if he were cringing all the time. Dean was a cripple anyway, inside--he was not like [Marlon Brando]. People compared them, but there was no similarity. He was a far, far sicker kid and Brando's not sick, he's just troubled.

Facts

#	Fact
1	He directed two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954).
2	Sidney Lumet on Kazan: "What moves me most about his work is his pioneering spirit. Emotions, passions were put up on the screen. That Mediterranean release is responsible for a lot of what we're doing today.
3	Kazan directed four performers to Best Supporting Actress Oscars: Celeste Holm, Kim Hunter, Eva Marie Saint, and Jo Van Fleet.
4	Used to play handball with Harry Morgan.
5	In 1999, Gregory Peck supported the decision to give Elia Kazan an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, saying that he believed a man's work should be separate from his life.
6	Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 291-294. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
7	Grandfather of Zoe Kazan.
8	Known to direct Method Actors, and was the only director to have worked with three of the earliest and most famous ones: James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Montgomery Clift. In addition to those three, he directed Robert De Niro in The Last Tycoon (1976).
9	Despite having had two cinematic successes with Tennessee Williams works A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Baby Doll (1956), Kazan did not direct the movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), although he won a Tony Award nomination as Best Director for staging Williams's Pulitizer Prize-winning play on Broadway. Richard Brooks directed the film. During the play's production, Kazan had had trouble with Williams, and Kazan eventually demanded that Williams rewrite the second act of the play to bring Big Daddy back on stage. Williams complied, but he had Big Daddy tell what Kazan felt was the equivalent of a dirty joke, possibly out of pique at Kazan.
10	Founded the Actors' Studio in 1947 along with Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis.
11	Kazan won three Tony Awards for Best Director: for Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" in 1947; for for Miller's "Death of a Salesman" in 1949; and for Archibald Macleish's "J.B." in 1959. He was also nominated for Tony Awards four other times: as Best Director, for Tennessee Williams's play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1956; as Best Director and co-producer of the Best Play nominee, William Inge's "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" in 1958; and as Best Director (Dramatic) for Tennessee Williams's "Sweet Bird of Youth" in 1960.
12	Attended acting class of Michael Chekhov in Hollywood.
13	According to Kazan, his first name was pronounced "l-EE-ah".
14	Screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who won an Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954), told Fox News (1987) in October 2003 that he had seen Kazan in September, just before his death at age 94. He claimed that Kazan was still complaining that Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox had passed on making "Waterfront".
15	Directed 21 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: James Dunn, Celeste Holm, Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Anne Revere, Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, Karl Malden, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Jo Van Fleet, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Mildred Dunnock and Natalie Wood. Dunn, Holm, Malden, Leigh, Hunter, Quinn, Brando, Saint and Van Fleet all won Oscars for their performances in Kazan films.
16	In 1960, Kazan he was nominated for his seventh Tony award. This was his last nomination, and it was for the play "Sweet Bird of Youth".
17	In 1958, Kazan won his third Tony Award for Best Director -- for the play '''J.B.'''.
18	In 1958, Kazan received his fourth Tony Award nomination for Best Director. He was also nominated that same year in the category of Best Play along with co-producer Arnold Saint Subber. Both nominations were for the play "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs".
19	In 1956, Kazan received his third Tony Award nomination for Best Director. This nomination was for his directing the play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".
20	Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985". Pages 503-510. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
21	Four children with Molly Kazan: Judy, Chris, Nick, and Katharine. Two children with Barbara Kazan: Leo and Marco.
22	Father-in-law of Robin Swicord.
23	Father of Nicholas Kazan.
24	Kennedy Center Honoree, 1983
25	Was the 1958 recipient of the Connor Award given by the brothers of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity based at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He was also an honorary brother of that fraternity.
26	Was Francis Ford Coppola's first choice for the role of Hyman Roth in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
27	His selection for an Honorary Oscar angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his being among the first to cooperate with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1952, which led to the blacklisting that ruined many careers in Hollywood because of their political beliefs, and that Kazan had publicly stated that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against his selection for the award and some attendees of the awards ceremony, such as Nick Nolte , Ed Harris, stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. However, others both stood and applauded Kazan, such as Warren Beatty, Meryl Streep, Helen Hunt, Karl Malden, Kurt Russell, and Kathy Baker. Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese presented the honorary Oscar to Kazan.

Pictures

All pictures

Movies

Director

Title	Year	Status
The Last Tycoon	1976
The Visitors	1972
The Arrangement	1969
America America	1963
Splendor in the Grass	1961
Wild River	1960
A Face in the Crowd	1957
Baby Doll	1956
East of Eden	1955
On the Waterfront	1954
Man on a Tightrope	1953
Viva Zapata!	1952
A Streetcar Named Desire	1951
Panic in the Streets	1950
Pinky	1949
Gentleman's Agreement	1947
The Sea of Grass	1947
Boomerang!	1947
Watchtower Over Tomorrow	1945	Documentary short uncredited
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	1945
The People of the Cumberland	1937	Documentary short

Writer

Title	Year	Status
Love, Marilyn	2012	Documentary excerpts from memoirs
Diaspora	2001	Short excerpts from "America, America"
The Arrangement	1969	novel "The Arrangement" / written by
America America	1963	written by
Pinky	1949	contributor to screenplay - uncredited
Gentleman's Agreement	1947	screenplay revision - uncredited
Blues in the Night	1941	play "Hot Nocturne" - uncredited

Producer

Title	Year	Status
The Arrangement	1969	producer
America America	1963	producer - uncredited
Splendor in the Grass	1961	producer - uncredited
Wild River	1960	producer
A Face in the Crowd	1957	producer - uncredited
Baby Doll	1956	producer
East of Eden	1955	producer - uncredited
Pie in the Sky	1935	Short executive producer

Actor

Title	Year	Status	Character
Sis	1988		Old man in the coffee house
Panic in the Streets	1950		Cleaver - Mortuary Assistant (uncredited)
Blues in the Night	1941		Nickie Haroyen
City for Conquest	1940		'Googi'
Pie in the Sky	1935	Short as Elia 'Gadget' Kazan
Strangers All	1935		Protester Calling for a Ballot at Communist Meeting (unconfirmed, uncredited)
Cafe Universal	1934

Miscellaneous

Title	Year	Status
One Touch of Venus	1948	stager: original musical production
All My Sons	1948	produced on the stage by
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs	1960	produced on the stage by

Soundtrack

Title	Year	Status	Character
Blues in the Night	1941	performer: "In Waikiki" - uncredited

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
Elia Kazan on 'On the Waterfront'	2013	Video documentary short	Himself
The 71st Annual Academy Awards	1999	TV Special	Himself - Honorary Award Recipient
Liv till varje pris	1998	Documentary	Himself
Elvis: His Life and Times	1997	TV Special	Himself
Le club	1995	TV Series documentary	Himself
Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey	1995	Documentary	Himself
American Masters	1990	TV Series documentary	Himself
Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches	1989	TV Series	Himself
L'héritage de la chouette	1989	TV Mini-Series documentary
Hello Actors Studio	1988	TV Movie documentary	Himself
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts	1983	TV Special documentary	Himself - Honoree
Elia Kazan: An Outsider	1982	Documentary	Himself
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady	1982	TV Movie documentary	Himself
Cinéma cinémas	1982	TV Series documentary	Himself
The 34th Annual Tony Awards	1980	TV Special	Himself - Presenter: Special Award to Mary Tyler Moore
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts	1979	TV Special	Himself - Presenter: Tennessee Williams
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	1972-1978	TV Series	Himself - Guest
The Mike Douglas Show	1972-1978	TV Series	Himself - Director
The David Frost Show	1969-1972	TV Series	Himself - Guest
This Is Your Life	1971	TV Series	Himself
Neues aus der Welt des Films	1970	TV Series	Himself
Die Drehscheibe	1970	TV Series	Himself
Cinema	1969	TV Series documentary	Himself
The Merv Griffin Show	1967	TV Series	Himself - Guest
America America	1963		Himself (voice, uncredited)
The Theater of Tomorrow	1963	TV Movie	Himself - Narrator
Cinépanorama	1962	TV Series documentary	Himself
The 27th Annual Academy Awards	1955	TV Special	Himself - Winner: Best Director

Archive Footage

Title	Year	Status	Character
Marlon Brando, un acteur nommé désir	2014	TV Movie documentary	Himself
Nonfiction W	2013	TV Series documentary	Himself
Stars of the Silver Screen	2011	TV Series	Himself
A Letter to Elia	2010	Documentary	Himself
American Masters	2003-2008	TV Series documentary	Himself / Himself - Interviewee
Trumbo	2007	Documentary	Himself
Brando	2007	TV Movie documentary	Himself
A Man Named Brando	2006	Video documentary short	Himself
A Streetcar in Hollywood	2006	Video documentary short	Himself
A Streetcar on Broadway	2006	Video documentary short	Himself
East of Eden: Art in Search of Life	2005	Video documentary short	Himself - Director
James Dean: Forever Young	2005	Documentary	Himself
Tell Them Who You Are	2004	Documentary	Himself
The 76th Annual Academy Awards	2004	TV Special	Himself (Memorial Tribute)
Biography	2002	TV Series documentary	Himself
The 50th Annual Tony Awards	1996	TV Special	Himself
Días de cine	1996	TV Series	Himself
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies	1995	TV Movie documentary	Himself (uncredited)
Mia and Roman	1968	Documentary short	Himself
The Screen Director	1951	Short	Himself (uncredited)

Awards

Won Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
2006	OFTA Film Hall of Fame	Online Film & Television Association	Creative
1999	Honorary Award	Academy Awards, USA		In appreciation of a long, distinguished and unparalleled career during which he has influenced the... More
1997	Lifetime Achievement Award	Istanbul International Film Festival
1997	Lifetime Achievement Award	Stockholm Film Festival
1996	Honorary Golden Berlin Bear	Berlin International Film Festival
1996	Special Citation	National Board of Review, USA		For lifetime achievement in direction.
1987	Lifetime Achievement Award	Directors Guild of America, USA
1983	DGA Honorary Life Member Award	Directors Guild of America, USA
1965	Sant Jordi	Sant Jordi Awards	Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera)	America America (1963)
1964	Golden Globe	Golden Globes, USA	Best Director	America America (1963)
1964	Boxoffice Blue Ribbon Award	Boxoffice Magazine Awards	Best Picture of the Month for the Whole Family (February)	America America (1963)
1964	Golden Seashell	San Sebastián International Film Festival		America America (1963)
1960	Star on the Walk of Fame	Walk of Fame	Motion Picture	On 8 February 1960. At 6800 Hollywood Blvd.
1959	CEC Award	Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain	Best Foreign Director (Mejor Director Extranjero)	East of Eden (1955)
1958	Bodil	Bodil Awards	Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film)	East of Eden (1955)
1957	Golden Globe	Golden Globes, USA	Best Director	Baby Doll (1956)
1956	Blue Ribbon Award	Blue Ribbon Awards	Best Foreign Language Film	East of Eden (1955)
1956	Kinema Junpo Award	Kinema Junpo Awards	Best Foreign Language Film	East of Eden (1955)
1955	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Director	On the Waterfront (1954)
1955	Golden Globe	Golden Globes, USA	Best Director	On the Waterfront (1954)
1955	Bodil	Bodil Awards	Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film)	On the Waterfront (1954)
1955	Award	Cannes Film Festival	Best Dramatic Film	East of Eden (1955)
1955	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	On the Waterfront (1954)
1955	Silver Ribbon	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Best Foreign Film (Miglior Film Straniero)	On the Waterfront (1954)
1954	NYFCC Award	New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Director	On the Waterfront (1954)
1954	OCIC Award	Venice Film Festival		On the Waterfront (1954)
1954	Silver Lion	Venice Film Festival		On the Waterfront (1954)
1954	Pasinetti Award	Venice Film Festival		On the Waterfront (1954)
1953	Special Prize of the Senate of Berlin	Berlin International Film Festival		Man on a Tightrope (1953)
1951	NYFCC Award	New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Director	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
1951	Special Jury Prize	Venice Film Festival		A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
1950	International Award	Venice Film Festival		Panic in the Streets (1950)
1948	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Director	Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
1948	Golden Globe	Golden Globes, USA	Best Director	Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
1947	NBR Award	National Board of Review, USA	Best Director	Boomerang! (1947)
1947	NYFCC Award	New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Director	Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Nominated Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
1972	Palme d'Or	Cannes Film Festival		The Visitors (1972)
1971	Golden Laurel	Laurel Awards	Best Producer-Director	9th place.
1967	Golden Laurel	Laurel Awards	Producer-Director	10th place.
1964	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Picture	America America (1963)
1964	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Director	America America (1963)
1964	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen	America America (1963)
1964	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	America America (1963)
1964	WGA Award (Screen)	Writers Guild of America, USA	Best Written American Drama	America America (1963)
1962	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Splendor in the Grass (1961)
1962	Golden Laurel	Laurel Awards	Top Producer/Director	8th place.
1961	Golden Laurel	Laurel Awards	Top Producer/Director	10th place.
1960	Golden Berlin Bear	Berlin International Film Festival		Wild River (1960)
1958	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	A Face in the Crowd (1957)
1956	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Director	East of Eden (1955)
1956	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	East of Eden (1955)
1955	Palme d'Or	Cannes Film Festival		East of Eden (1955)
1954	Golden Lion	Venice Film Festival		On the Waterfront (1954)
1953	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Viva Zapata! (1952)
1952	Oscar	Academy Awards, USA	Best Director	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
1952	Grand Prize of the Festival	Cannes Film Festival		Viva Zapata! (1952)
1952	DGA Award	Directors Guild of America, USA	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
1951	Golden Lion	Venice Film Festival		A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
1950	Golden Lion	Venice Film Festival		Panic in the Streets (1950)
1948	Grand International Award	Venice Film Festival		Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
1947	Award	Cannes Film Festival	Feature films	Boomerang! (1947)