Trivia

Screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who won an Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954), told Fox News at Seven (1988) in October 2003 that he had seen Kazan in September, just before his death at age 94. He claimed that Kazan was still complaining that Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox had passed on making "Waterfront".

Was Francis Ford Coppola's first choice for the role of Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II (1974), which went to Lee Strasberg.

His selection for an Honorary Oscar angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his being among the first to cooperate with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1952, which led to the blacklisting that ruined many careers in Hollywood because of their political beliefs, and that Kazan had publicly stated that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against his selection for the award and some attendees of the awards ceremony, such as Nick Nolte and Ed Harris, stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. However, others both stood and applauded Kazan, such as Warren Beatty, Meryl Streep, Helen Hunt, Karl Malden, Kurt Russell and Kathy Baker. Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese presented the honorary Oscar to Kazan.

Founded the Actors' Studio along with Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis (1947).

Known to direct Method Actors, and was the only director to have worked with three of the earliest and most famous ones: James Dean, Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. In addition to those three, he directed Robert De Niro in The Last Tycoon (1976).

Directed 21 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: James Dunn, Celeste Holm, Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Anne Revere, Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, Karl Malden, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Jo Van Fleet, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Mildred Dunnock and Natalie Wood. Dunn, Holm, Malden, Leigh, Hunter, Quinn, Brando, Saint and Van Fleet all won Oscars for their performances in Kazan films.

In 1999, Gregory Peck supported the decision to give Elia Kazan an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, saying that he believed a man's work should be separate from his life.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6800 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Sidney Lumet on Kazan: "What moves me most about his work is his pioneering spirit. Emotions, passions were put up on the screen. That Mediterranean release is responsible for a lot of what we're doing today.".

Despite having had two cinematic successes with Tennessee Williams works A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Baby Doll (1956), Kazan did not direct the movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), although he won a Tony Award nomination as Best Director for staging Williams's Pulitizer Prize-winning play on Broadway. Richard Brooks directed the film. During the play's production, Kazan had had trouble with Williams, and Kazan eventually demanded that Williams rewrite the second act of the play to bring Big Daddy back on stage. Williams complied, but he had Big Daddy tell what Kazan felt was the equivalent of a dirty joke, possibly out of pique at Kazan.

Kazan directed four performers to Best Supporting Actress Oscars: Celeste Holm, Kim Hunter, Eva Marie Saint and Jo Van Fleet.

In 1956, Kazan received his third Tony Award nomination for Best Director. This nomination was for his directing the play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".

Had four children with Molly Kazan: Judy Kazan, Chris Kazan, Nicholas Kazan and Katharine Kazan. Had two children with Barbara Loden: Leonard Kazan and Marco Kazan. Grandfather of Zoe Kazan.

In 1960, Kazan he was nominated for his seventh Tony Award. This was his last nomination, and it was for the play "Sweet Bird of Youth".

Attended acting class of Michael Chekhov in Hollywood.

Is one of four directors who have directed Academy Award winning performances in all four acting categories. The others being William Wyler, Hal Ashby and Martin Scorsese.

Used to play handball with Harry Morgan.

Kazan won three Tony Awards for Best Director: for Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" (1947); for for Miller's "Death of a Salesman" (1949); and for Archibald Macleish's "J.B." (1959). He was also nominated for Tony Awards four other times: as Best Director, for Tennessee Williams's play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1956); as Best Director and co-producer of the Best Play nominee, William Inge's "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" (1958); and as Best Director (Dramatic) for Tennessee Williams's "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1960).

Was the 1958 recipient of the Connor Award given by the brothers of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity based at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He was also an honorary brother of that fraternity.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 503-510. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1988).

In 1958, Kazan received his fourth Tony Award nomination for Best Director. He was also nominated that same year in the category of Best Play along with co-producer Arnold Saint Subber. Both nominations were for the play "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs".

Attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut before moving to New York City.

Kennedy Center Honoree (1983).

In 1958, Kazan won his third Tony Award for Best Director -- for the play ''J.B.''.

He has directed eight films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Gentleman's Agreement (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), East of Eden (1955), A Face in the Crowd (1957), Wild River (1960) and America America (1963).

Attended and graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts (1931).

According to Kazan, his first name was pronounced "l-EE-ah".

Father-in-law of Robin Swicord.

Of the three directors who directed James Dean in a starring role, Kazan is the only one who didn't direct a Jesus Christ biblical epic. Nicholas Ray directed King of Kings (1961) and George Stevens directed The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).

Kazan had never had a writing credit on his films until "America, America" appeared in 1963. He was sole author of the screenplay, a version of which was published to great acclaim and considerable sales. This started Kazan on his late-life career as a novelist, which became the chief focus of his artistic interests. Despite his renown as a stage director, he directed no plays after the mid-1960s, and only a handful of films. The last of these was in 1976, over a quarter of a century before his death. He once told a British journalist that he would rather be "the worst novelist in the world than the best director", but his literary achievements were generally held to be far inferior to his best directing work.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 291-294. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale (2007).

His parents were Cappadocian Greeks, an ethnic Greek community that was native to the historical region of Cappadocia in central-eastern Anatolia, since antiquity. They were originally from the city of Kaisáreia; that after 1924 is called Kayseri, (Kayseri Province, Turkey).

He has directed four films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Gentleman's Agreement (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954) and America America (1963). Gentleman's Agreement and On the Waterfront won in the category.

Amongst all the top directors Billy Wilder had the most Oscar nominations with 8 Fred Zinneman 7, Frank Capra 6 David Lean 6, Clarence Brown 5, John Ford 5, King Vidor 5 George Stevens 5 Alfred Hitchcock 5 George Cukor 5.

He's the author of 5 best selling novels, the last being The Visitor in 1972.