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.
Filmography
all 62
Movies 52
self 34
Director 20
TV Shows 10
Writer 2
Producer 1
Faye (2024)
Inside Rupert Pupkin (2014)
An Actor Named Brando (2006)
East of Eden: Art in Search of Life (2005)
Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist: None Without Sin (2003)
Diaspora (2001)
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage (1994)
Mist (1988)
The Last Tycoon (1976)
The Visitors (1972)
The Arrangement (1969)
The Dick Cavett Show (1968)
Αμέρικα, Αμέρικα (1963)
Wild River (1960)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Baby Doll (1956)
East of Eden (1955)
Man on a Tightrope (1953)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
The Screen Director (1951)
Pinky (1949)
The Sea of Grass (1947)
Boomerang! (1947)
Blues in the Night (1941)
Strangers All (1935)
Gallery
Information
Known ForDirecting
GenderMale
Birthday1909-09-07
Deathday2003-09-28 (94 years old)
Birth PlaceConstantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]
RelationshipsMolly Kazan (1932-01-01 - 1963-01-01), Frances Kazan (1982-01-01 - 2003-01-01), Barbara Loden (1967-01-01 - 1980-01-01)
ChildrenChris Kazan, Nicholas Kazan
RelativesZoe Kazan
CitizenshipsGreece, United States of America
Also Known AsElia Kazanjoglous, 엘리아 카잔, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου, Еліа Казан, Ηλίας Καζάν
AwardsDirectors Guild of America Award, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Academy Honorary Award, Academy Award for Best Director, Donaldson Awards, National Board of Review Award for Best Film, Kennedy Center Honors, star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tony Award for Best Director
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