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Elia Kazan, Influential Stage and Film Master, Is Dead at 94
Mon Sep 29, 3:27 PM ET

Robert Simonson Playbill On-Line

Elia Kazan (news), the influential and controversial stage and film director who had a critical impact on post-World War II American theatre, died at his New York home on Sept. 27. He was 94.




In the 1940s and 1950s, no American director was as important or prominent as Mr. Kazan. He created the original stagings of Arthur Miller's two first major plays, All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, his efforts going a long way toward establishing Miller as a leading American playwright.


He was also a force in the career of Miller's leading contemporary, but tempermental opposite, Tennessee Williams, directed A Streetcar Named Desire, Sweet Bird of Youth, Camino Real and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Mr. Kazan's flair for stage pictures, ability to tap into the underlying psychology of a story and talent for eliciting unforgettable performances from his actors (he began as an actor himself, working with the renowned Group Theatre) helped etch these productions into the theatre history books, as well as into the minds of audiences.


Mr. Kazan also directed the original productions of such important works as The Skin of Our Teeth, Tea and Sympathy, J.B., One Touch of Venus and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.


In 1963, he and producer Robert Whitehead became the first directors of Lincoln Center Theater, which, at the time, was intended to become America's national theatre. But, after directing Miller's poorly received After the Fall and two other plays, Mr. Kazan, frustrated with the theatre world in general, left in 1965, never to return to stage work. In an interview years later, the always outspoken Mr. Kazan said, "There is no damn theatre anymore...It's boring and archaic." He had previously abandoned Broadway work, saying the rising costs made his job impossible. He directed his first film in 1945, and devoted himself to movies more and more as the years passed, producing such classics as "Gentleman's Agreement," "East of Eden," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Baby Doll," "Splendor in the Grass," "Panic in the Streets," "Viva Zapata!" and "On the Waterfront."


The last titleabout a Brooklyn longshoreman, played by Marlon Brando (news), who strikes out against a brutal mob boss in control of the waterfrontwas thought by artists and critics to be Mr. Kazan's veiled attempt to explain himself to his critics. In 1952, he identified colleagues in show business as being members of the Communist Party before the House Un-American Activities Committeean action for which many people never forgave him. As recently as 1999, the decision to honor him with a special Academy Award set off a tornado of protest and debate. For his part, Mr. Kazan always defended his decision as one of conscience, though many people noted that his career sailed on unimpeded after his government appearance. Whatever his motivations, the episode cast a cloud over his achievements for decades.


Many an actor's career was made under the guidance of Mr. Kazan's hand, most famously that of Marlon Brando, who rocketed to fame after appearing on Broadway in Streetcar. Brando's moody filmic soulmate, James Dean (news), had his first movie role in Mr. Kazan's "East of Eden." Other actors who benefited greatly from working with him include Eli Wallach (news), Burl Ives, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb. A performance ferried to the stage or screen by Mr. Kazan was typically fiery, emotional, introspective, vulnerable, explosive and larger than life. He led many performers to Tony Awards (news - web sites) and Oscars (news - web sites).


One Kazan technique had the director whispering a note into the ear of one actor, without telling the other performers what he had said. The actor would then do what he had been told, often to the great surprise of his costars. Thus, a scene would unfold at its emotional peak.


He was born Elia Kazanjoglous on Sept. 7, 1909, in Constantinople, to Greek parents. His family moved to New York City when he was four. His career in the theatre began when in the 1930s he joined the activist, political, "Method"-worshipping Group Theatre, whose members included future giants like Clifford Odets, Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg (news) and Stella Adler. He stage managed and had small parts in Odets' Waiting for Lefty and Golden Boy.


In 1947, he founded the Actors Studio with Cheryl Crawford and Bobby Lewis. The place made "Method" actingemotionally based performance based on the teaching of Stanislavskya staple of American plays and movies, and engendered several generations of leading actors.


He first directed on Broadway in 1935 with The Young Go First. Thunder Rock followed in 1939. He had a popular success in 1942 with Cafe Crown. The Skin of Our Teeth came the same year. The critical and commercial success of the piece help cement his career.


Mr. Kazan's well known nickname, received in college, was "Gadge," short for gadget. The implication was that he was a useful man to have around.


His marriage to Molly Day Thatcher ended in 1963. He then married actress Barbara Loden, who died in 1980.

http://story.news.yahoo.c...0929161115


Director Elia Kazan had key role in Hollywood's brightest, darkest moments
Mon Sep 29,12:11 PM ET


LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Director Elia Kazan (news), one of Hollywood's most celebrated and influential directors, had a starring role in one of the film industry's darkest moments.



Kazan was an acclaimed director on stage and screen who directed classics such as "A Streetcar Named Desire," "East of Eden" and "On the Waterfront" -- films that lived on in American memory well after their runs ended.


But Kazan's name is still linked to the day, April 10, 1952, when, in the midst of the Cold War, he testified before the infamous US House Committee on Un-American Activities.


He named eight people who, like himself, were members or former members of the Communist Party. His testimony ruined their careers and sparked a wave of fear in Hollywood that drove many actors and writers underground.


Kazan was born Elia Kazanjoglou on September 7, 1909, to a Greek family in what was then Constantinople but is now Istanbul. His family immigrated in 1913 to New York, where his father became a carpet salesman.


After studying drama at Yale University, he returned to Manhattan in 1932 and joined the Group Theater -- a company of militant leftists who inspired him to join the Communist Party for two years, from 1934 to 1936.


During the 1940s, he made his directorial debut on Broadway with "Skin of Our Teeth" (1942) and in Hollywood with "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945). He alternated between the twin worlds of theater and cinema and the east and west coasts until the 1960s.


Between directing Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" and Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" on stage, Kazan found time to direct the film "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1947.


It was his first film to deal with anti-Semitism, and although he always considered it "too damn polite," the picture won Oscars (news - web sites) for best film and best directing.


That was also the year when he helped found The Actor's Studio in New York, a school that became an incubator for stars. One of their most famous students, Marlon Brando (news), was launched to fame when Kazan directed the film version of "Streetcar" in 1951. It is the only show that Kazan directed on both stage and screen.


At that time, when anti-communist sentiment in the United States was about to boil over, Kazan directed Brando in the film "Viva Zapata!" (1952) -- a biography of the legendary Mexican revolutionary.


When Kazan testified before Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Committee on Un-American Activities, he named eight former colleagues at Group Theater who, like himself, were members or former members of the Communist Party.


His testimony saved his career, but soiled his name forever.


Many other refused to give the committee names, and Kazan was roundly criticized.


Brando expressed confusion. "That was a terrible thing (Kazan) did in Washington. I am not going to work with him anymore. But he's good for me. Maybe I'll work with him a couple more times, at least once."


Two years later, Brando did work with Kazan in "On the Waterfront," in which he responded to his critics through the film's protagonist, a dockworker who denounced corrupt union leaders.


"When Brando, at the end, yells ... 'I'm glad what I done -- you hear me? Glad what I done!' that was me saying with identical heat that I was glad I testified as I had," Kazan wrote in his 1988 autobiography, "Elia Kazan: A Life."





Kazan continued his career on Broadway and in Hollywood, giving James Dean (news) his first starring role in 1955 with "East of Eden."

He went on to direct other actors in movies that made them stars, including Eli Wallach (news) in "Baby Doll" (1956), Montgomery Clift (news) in "Wild River" (1960), and Warren Beatty (news) and Nathalie Wood in "Splendor in the Grass" (1961).

During the 1960s, Kazan left theater to focus on writing fiction and to direct independent films such as "America, America" (1963), which was based on the story of his family's immigration.

His last film, "The Last Tycoon," starred Robert DeNiro in 1976.

In his sixties, he launched a third successful career as a writer, penning several best-selling novels.

Kazan received two Academy Awards (news - web sites), for "Gentleman's Agreement" and "On the Waterfront," and produced nine Oscar-winning performances from actors and actresses he directed.

In 1999, Kazan was living in retirement in Connecticut when the spotlight fell on him again. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (news - web sites) decided to overlook the 1950s controversy and award him an Oscar for lifetime achievement.

Kazan died Sunday at the age of 94 at his home in Manhattan after several years of declining health.

good riddance to the snitch, i say.

AaronMaximus said:

Who?

He did make a valid point and that was I'd rather hurt someone a little than hurt myself a lot. That makes a lot of sense, shit I'd rather hurt someone a lot than hurt myself a little.

J/K

I can't really take as damning a position on Kazan as others seem to be taking in this thread - I think this is definitely a case where I can't judge a person till I've walked a mile in his shoes - and unlike his personal/political past, the film legacy he left behind leaves no doubt about its greatness. RIP

Anxiety said:

The whole McCarthy communist witch hunt thing was bizaare.

Anxiety said:

beautifully stated.

rest in hell! thats cruel as shit, but funnier than hell

I think he made some very good movies. I love Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Wild River.

RAT FINK!