Elia Kazan

Directing

Born: 1909-09-07
Died: 2003-09-28
From: Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]
Gender: Male
Height: 173.00 m
Popularity: 0.7

Also Known As

Elia Kazanjoglous엘리아 카잔Ηλίας ΚαζαντζόγλουЕліа КазанΗλίας ΚαζάνElias Kazantzoglou

Biography

Elia Kazan ( September 7 , 1909, Kayseri – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American director and actor, described as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". He also produced, and wrote screenplays and novels. Born in the Kayseri, Ottoman Empire to Greek parents, they emigrated to New York when he was four. After two years studying acting at Yale, he acted professionally for eight years before becoming a stage and film director. Kazan co-founded the influential Group Theater in 1932 and Actors Studio in 1947, and together with Lee Strasberg, introduced Method acting to the American stage and cinema as a new form of self-expression and psychological "realism". Having been an actor himself for eight years, he brought sensitivity and understanding of the acting process, and was later considered the ideal "actor's director". He himself acted in only a few films, including City for Conquest (1940), alongside James Cagney. Overall, Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and 1960s by his run of provocative, issues-driven subjects, and acting. Moreover, his personal brand of cinema, employing real locations over sets, unknowns over stars, and realism over convenient genres, proved influential to a whole generation of independent filmmakers in the 1960s. Film author Ian Freer concludes that "If his achievements are tainted by political controversy, the debt Hollywood — and actors everywhere — owes him, is enormous." In 2010, Martin Scorsese co-directed the documentary film, A Letter to Elia, as a personal tribute to Kazan, who he credits as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker.

Photos5

Awards & Nominations12 won · 10 nominated

🏆 Won

Academy Honorary Award

1999
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Picture

America America

1964
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Director

America America

1964
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

America America

1964
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play

1960
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Director

1959
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Director

1958
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Director

1956
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Director

East of Eden

1956
🏆 Won

Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama

East of Eden

1955
🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Director

On the Waterfront

1955
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Director

On the Waterfront

1955
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Director

A Streetcar Named Desire

1952
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Director

1949
🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Director

Gentleman's Agreement

1948
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Director

Gentleman's Agreement

1948
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Director

1947
🏆 Won

Donaldson Awards

🏆 Won

Directors Guild of America Award

🏆 Won

star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

🏆 Won

National Board of Review Award for Best Film

🏆 Won

Kennedy Center Honors

Acting32 titles

Directing21 titles

Writing2 titles

Production7 titles

Crew1 title