Kazan, Elia, << kuh ZAN, EEL yuh >> (1909-2003), became one of America’s best-known stage and screen directors. He was regarded as Broadway’s leading director of the late 1940’s and the 1950’s. Kazan won Academy Awards for his direction of the motion pictures Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954).
Kazan was born Elia Kazanjoglou on Sept. 7, 1909, in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey, to parents of Greek descent. In 1913, Kazan came to the United States. He worked as an actor before turning to stage directing in the 1930’s. Kazan directed such major hits as The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). His first feature film as a director was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945). Kazan’s other films include Boomerang (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), East of Eden (1955), and Baby Doll (1956). He also wrote novels and an autobiography, A Life (1988). Kazan died on Sept. 28, 2003.
