Elia Kazan was born in 1909 as Elias Kazanjoglous in the city that would become Istanbul, Turkey. He was a Hollywood film director, often directing films with complex male characters. Kazan was also a proponent of the "method" style of acting.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001415/bio His influence can be seen in such actors as Marlon Brando, James Dean, Karl Malden, and Montgomery Clift.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001415/bio He was a director on Broadway a number of years before trying his hand at filmmaking. Some of his films are A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), and East of Eden (1955).http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/elia-kazan/about-elia-kazan/642/

In the 1952, Kazan testified to the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC). http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/kazan/ His testimony led to a number of filmmakers being denied work due to their supposed affiliation with the Communist Party. http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/kazan/ Because of this, in 1999, when Kazan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, many in the industry were upset. http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/kazan/

Before becoming a film director, Kazan was lauded for his realism in his stage direction of plays written by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. Some of these stories, he would later translate to the screen, most notably, A Streetcar Named Desire with Marlon Brando. http://kirjasto.sci.fi/kazan.htm Brando had also performed his role as "Stanley" on stage with Kazan.http://kirjasto.sci.fi/kazan.htm

Kazan's film efforts were documentaries until he made his first feature with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 1945. The film's success enabled Kazan to work steadily with a studio for almost ten years. http://kirjasto.sci.fi/kazan.htm He co-founded the Actor's Studio in 1947 where the "method" acting style was taught. The style involved more natural and realistic choices by the actors, a contrast to the frequently staged portrayals seen in movies of the time.http://kirjasto.sci.fi/kazan.htm

His work and the work of his actors was frequently recognized by critics on such films as On the Waterfront where Janet Leigh and Karl Malden both won Academy Awards. Kazan directed for almost forty years, but his last hit was Splendor in the Grass in 1961 with Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood. http://kirjasto.sci.fi/kazan.htm He made four more films, the last being an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon with Robert Deniro.

Once he gave up directing, Kazan became a writer, penning four novels and the autobiography Elia Kazan: A Life. He died in Manhattan on September 28, 2003.

In 1952, Kazan appeared before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities, a congressional body lead by Joseph McCarthy intent on finding Communist groups in American institutions, and the left-leaning politics of Hollywood made it a favorite target. Kazan gave the names of those in the film industry he thought to be members of the Communist party. These people were blacklisted, disallowed to work. Some believe Kazan's intentions were noble, that he was standing on principle. Some believe he acted out of greed, clearing away the competition, making room for his own career to flourish.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/elia-kazan/about-elia-kazan/642/

"If there is a better performance by a man in the history of American film, I don't know what it is."&mdash Elia Kazan: A Life. referring to Marlon Brando's performance in On the Waterfront http://books.google.com/books?id=xglC324UIUgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Elia+Kazan%22&hl=en&ei=7ka7TMmiH4GKlwfE9YGDDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=tough&f=false

"I learned from Harold that a director's first task is to make his actors eager to play their parts."— Elia Kazan: A Life, referring to Harold Clurman http://books.google.com/books?id=xglC324UIUgC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121#v=onepage&q&f=false

• The People of the Cumberland (1937) (documentary short)
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
• Watchtower Over Tomorrow (1945) (short)
• The Sea of Grass (1947)
• Boomerang! (1947)
• Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
• Pinky (1949)
• Panic in the Streets (1950)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
• Viva Zapata! (1952)
• Man on a Tightrope (1953)
• On the Waterfront (1954)
• East of Eden (1955)
• Baby Doll (1956)
• A Face in the Crowd (1957)
• Wild River (1960)
• Splendor in the Grass (1961)
• America, America(1963)
• The Arrangement (1969)
• The Visitors (1972)
• The Last Tycoon (1976)