Elia Kazan
Directing
Born: September 7, 1909 · Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]
Died: September 28, 2003 (aged 94)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
On the Waterfront
1954
A Streetcar Named Desire
1951
East of Eden
1955
Splendor in the Grass
1961
Gentleman's Agreement
1947
A Face in the Crowd
1957
Viva Zapata!
1952
Panic in the Streets
1950
The Last Tycoon
1976
Baby Doll
1956
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
1945
Wild River
1960
Photos (5)
Movies (9)
Mist
Old man in the coffee house
Panic in the Streets
Cleaver - Mortuary Assistant (uncredited)
City for Conquest
'Googi'
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
1982
Blues in the Night
Nickie Haroyen
Strangers All
Protester Calling for a Ballot at Communist Meeting
Life at Any Cost
1998
Pie in the Sky
1935
The Making of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2019
Self / Appearances (24)
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · 2 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 1 eps
Apostrophes
Self · 1 eps
Spécial cinéma
Self · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 1 eps
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 1 eps
Cinépanorama
Self · 1 eps
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage
Self (archive footage)
Hello Actors Studio
Self
Arthur Miller: Writer
Self (archive footage)
Empire City
Self
Elia Kazan: An Outsider
Self
An Actor Named Brando
Self (archive footage)
The Screen Director
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
A Letter to Elia
Self (archive footage)
A Streetcar in Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
An American Named Kazan
Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'Gentleman's Agreement'
Self (archive footage)
A Streetcar on Broadway
Self (archive footage)
Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey
Self
I Am Wanda
Self
Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist: None Without Sin
Self (Archive footage)
Directing (21)
A Streetcar Named Desire
Director
On the Waterfront
Director
East of Eden
Director
Splendor in the Grass
Director
Viva Zapata!
Director
The Last Tycoon
Director
Gentleman's Agreement
Director
A Face in the Crowd
Director
The Arrangement
Director
Baby Doll
Director
Wild River
Director
Pinky
Director
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Director
America America
Director
Panic in the Streets
Director
The Sea of Grass
Director
Boomerang!
Director
Man on a Tightrope
Director
The Visitors
Director
Watchtower Over Tomorrow
Co-Director
People of the Cumberland
Assistant Director