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{{Short description|American director (1909–2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Elia Kazan
| image              = Elia Kazan.JPG
| caption            = Kazan {{c.|1950}}
| native_name        = Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου
| signature          = Elia Kazan's signature.png
| birth_name         = Elias Kazantzoglou
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1909|9|7}}
| birth_place        = [[Constantinople<!--Use "Constantinople" for the Ottoman-era city, see [[Talk:History of Istanbul]] RFC on Constantinople -->, Ottoman Empire]] (now Istanbul, Turkey)
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2003|9|28|1909|9|7}}
| death_place        = Manhattan, New York City, US
| nationality        = Greek-American
| education          = {{ubl|[[Williams College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Yale University]]|[[Juilliard School]]}}
| occupation         = {{hlist|Director|producer|screenwriter|actor}}
| years_active       = 1934–1976
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[Molly Day Thacher]]|1932|1963|end=died}}|{{marriage|[[Barbara Loden]]|1967|1980|end=died}}|{{marriage|[[Frances Kazan|Frances Rudge]]|1982}}}}
| children           = 5, including [[Nicholas Kazan|Nicholas]]
| relatives          = {{ubl|[[Zoe Kazan]] (granddaughter)|[[Maya Kazan]] (granddaughter)}}
}}

'''Elias Kazantzoglou''' ({{langx|el|Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου}}, {{IPA|el|iˈli.as kazanˈdzoɣlu|IPA}}; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as '''Elia Kazan''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|l|i|ə|_|k|ə|ˈ|z|æ|n}} {{respell|EE|lee|ə|_|kə|ZAN}}),<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kazan Dictionary.com – Kazan]</ref><ref>[http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/elia-kazan Oxford Learners' Dictionary – Elia Kazan]</ref>{{efn|Later in his life, he was known in Greece as {{lang|el|Ελία Καζάν}} {{IPA|el|eˈli.a kaˈzan|}}—a [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] of his English name.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-28 |title=Ελία Καζάν, 28 Σεπτεμβρίου 2003 |url=https://www.ert.gr/ert-arxeio/elia-kazan-28-septemvrioy-2003/ |website=ert.gr |language=el}}</ref>}} was a<!-- DO NOT ADD "GREEK" HERE. See MOS:ETHNICITY. He was born in Istanbul and moved to the United States as a child. The lede covers his family background.--> Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "one of the most honored and influential directors in [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] history".<ref name="Rothstein"/>

Born in [[Ottoman Constantinople|Constantinople]]<!--Use "Constantinople" for the Ottoman-era city, see [[Talk:History of Istanbul]] RFC on Constantinople --> (now Istanbul) to [[Cappadocian Greeks|Cappadocian Greek]]<!--Ethnic background provided from sources. Do NOT change.--> parents, his family came to the United States in 1913. After attending [[Williams College]] and then the [[Yale School of Drama]], he acted professionally for eight years, later joining the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]] in 1932, and co-founded the [[Actors Studio]] in 1947. With [[Robert Lewis (director)|Robert Lewis]] and [[Cheryl Crawford]], his actors' studio introduced "[[Method Acting]]" under the direction of [[Lee Strasberg]]. Kazan acted in a few films, including ''[[City for Conquest]]'' (1940).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/282565|title=Robert Osborne on Method Acting |website=[[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]] |access-date=October 3, 2017}}</ref>

His films were concerned with personal or social issues of special concern to him. Kazan writes, "I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme."<ref name=Stevens/> His first such "issue" film was ''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]'' (1947), with [[Gregory Peck]], which dealt with [[antisemitism in the United States]]. It received eight Oscar nominations and three wins, including Kazan's first for [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]. It was followed by ''[[Pinky (film)|Pinky]]'' (1949), one of the first films in mainstream Hollywood to address [[racial prejudice against African Americans]]. ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1951), an adaptation of the stage play which he had also directed, received twelve Oscar nominations, winning four, and was [[Marlon Brando]]'s breakthrough role. Three years later, he directed Brando again in ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', a film about union corruption on the New York harbor waterfront. It also received twelve [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations, winning eight. In 1955, he directed [[John Steinbeck]]'s ''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]'', starring [[James Dean]].

A turning point in Kazan's career came with his testimony as a "friendly witness" before the [[House  Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC) in 1952 at the height of the [[Hollywood blacklist]]. His decision to cooperate and name names brought him strong negative reactions from many friends and associates. His harshly anti-communist testimony "damaged if not shattered the careers of his former colleagues, [[Morris Carnovsky]] and [[Art Smith (actor)|Art Smith]], both actors, and the playwright [[Clifford Odets]]".<ref name=Still_Chill_article>{{cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/16/movies/a-mccarthy-era-memory-that-can-still-chill.html |title=A McCarthy Era Memory That Can Still Chill |date=January 16, 1997 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> In his memoirs, Kazan writes that he and Odets had made a pact at the time to name each other in front of the committee.{{sfn|Kazan|1988|pp=462–463}} Kazan later justified his actions by saying he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong".<ref>[https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/scorsese-gets-personal-in-his-a-letter-to-elia-1.677944 "Scorsese gets personal in his A Letter to Elia"] ''Gulf News'', September 6, 2010.</ref> Nearly a half-century later, his 1952 HUAC testimony continued to cause controversy. When Kazan was awarded an [[honorary Oscar]] in 1999, dozens of actors chose not to applaud as 250 demonstrators picketed the event.<ref name=Amid_Protests_article>{{cite news |last1=Weinraub |first1=Bernard |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/22/arts/amid-protests-elia-kazan-receives-his-oscar.html |title=Amid Protests Elia Kazan Receives His Oscar |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 22, 1999 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |archive-date=April 11, 2010  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411082939/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/22/arts/amid-protests-elia-kazan-receives-his-oscar.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and 1960s with his provocative, issue-driven subjects. Director [[Stanley Kubrick]] called him "without question, the best director we have in America, [and] capable of performing miracles with the actors he uses".<ref name=Ciment2>Ciment, Michel. ''Kubrick: The Definitive Edition'', Faber and Faber, Inc. (1980; 1999).</ref>{{rp|36}}<ref name=Directors>''International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers – 2: Directors'', St. James Press (1997) pp. 519–522.</ref> Film author [[Ian Freer]] concludes that even "if his achievements are tainted by political controversy, the debt Hollywood—and actors everywhere—owes him is enormous".<ref name=Freer>Freer, Ian. ''Movie Makers: 50 Iconic Directors'', Quercus Publishing (London) (2009) pp. 84–85.</ref> [[Orson Welles]] said "Kazan is a traitor ... [but] he is a very good director".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Warburton |first=Michael |title=When Orson Welles Denounced Elia Kazan as a Traitor for Giving Other Filmmakers' Names to Joe McCarthy (1982) |url=https://www.openculture.com/2023/01/when-orson-welles-denounced-elia-kazan-as-a-traitor-1982.html |publisher=Open Culture |date=25 January 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2010, [[Martin Scorsese]] co-directed the documentary film ''[[A Letter to Elia]]'' as a personal tribute to Kazan.<ref name="abcnews.go.com">[https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=11559194 "Scorsese Film Defends Anti-Communist Informer Kazan"] [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], September 4, 2010.</ref><ref name="A Letter to Elia">[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943429.html?cs=1&ref=ssp "A Letter to Elia"] ''Variety'', September 4, 2010.</ref>

==Early life==
Kazan was born in the [[Kadıköy]]<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Elia Kazan, Zulfu Livaneli |title=Elia Kazan is in Turkey as a guest of Zülfü Livaneli |type=Television Production |language= en |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFiQ5oS8fRs |access-date= November 17, 2022 |time=07:27 |quote=I was born in Kadıköy.}}</ref> district of [[Ottoman Constantinople|Constantinople]]<!--Use "Constantinople" for the Ottoman-era city, see [[Talk:History of Istanbul]] RFC on Constantinople --> (now Istanbul), to [[Cappadocian Greeks|Cappadocian Greek]] <!--Per sources on his ethnic background. Do NOT change.-->parents, originally from [[Kayseri]] in [[Anatolia]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/313858/Elia-Kazan#|title= Elia Kazan | encyclopedia = Britannica |access-date=March 4, 2025|quote= Elia Kazan [also known as Elia Kazanjoglous] (born September 7, 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]—died September 28, 2003, New York, New York, U.S.) was a Turkish-born American film director and author noted for his successes on the stage—especially with plays by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller—as well as for his critically acclaimed films and for his role in developing a revolutionary style of acting that embodied psychological and behavioral truth. His reputation as one of the most accomplished and influential American stage and film directors of the 1940s, ’50s, and early ’60s was clouded by his cooperation in 1952 with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), to which he “named names,” identifying fellow artists as members of the Communist Party. The child of ethnic Greeks who lived in Turkey, Kazan immigrated to New York City at age four with his parents (who shortened their surname from Kazanjoglous).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Young, Jeff |title= Kazan: the master director discusses his films: interviews with Elia Kazan |publisher= Newmarket Press |year= 2001|page= 9 |isbn= 978-1-55704-446-4|quote= He was born on September 7, 1909 to Greek parents living in Istanbul. His father, Giorgos Kazantzoglou, had fled Kayseri, a small village in Anatolia where for five hundred years the Turks had oppressed and brutalized the Armenian and Greek minorities who had lived there even longer.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Sennett |first=Ted |title= Great movie directors |publisher= Abrams |year= 1986 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/greatmoviedirect0000senn/page/128 128–129] |isbn= 978-0-8109-0718-8 |quote= Elia Kazan (born 1909)…  Born in Istanbul, Kazan immigrated to America with his Greek parents at the age of four. |url= https://archive.org/details/greatmoviedirect0000senn/page/128 }}</ref> He arrived in the United States with his parents, Athena ({{née |Shishmanoglou}}) and George Kazantzoglou, on July 8, 1913.<ref name="The National Herald 2020 u152">{{cite web | title= Elia Kazan's Granddaughter, Zoe Kazan Among NY Times Magazine's Best Performers of 2020 | website=The National Herald | date= December 14, 2020 | url=https://www.thenationalherald.com/elia-kazans-granddaughter-zoe-kazan-among-ny-times-magazines-best-performers-of-2020/ | access-date=February 9, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Stein 2023 m003">{{cite web | last=Stein | first=Harry | title= Justice to Elia Kazan | website=City Journal | date=March 23, 2023 | url= https://www.city-journal.org/article/justice-to-elia-kazan | access-date=February 10, 2024}}</ref> He was named after his paternal grandfather, Elias Kazantzoglou. His maternal grandfather was Isaak Shishmanoglou. Elia's brother, Avraam, was born in Berlin and later became a psychiatrist.<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp|21}}

Kazan was raised in the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] and attended Greek Orthodox services every Sunday, where he had to stand for several hours with his father. His mother read the Bible but did not go to church. When Kazan was about eight years old, the family moved to [[New Rochelle, New York]], and his father sent him to a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] catechism school because there was no Orthodox church nearby.{{sfn|Ciment|1974|pp=11–12}}

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Kazan in Paradise 37.jpg|thumb|In the play ''Paradise Lost'' (1937)]] -->
As a young boy, he was remembered as being shy, and his college classmates characterized him as more of a loner.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-09-29-14-noted-66325967/543917.html|title=Noted Film and Theater Director Elia Kazan Dies|date=September 29, 2003|work=Voice of America News|access-date=July 25, 2010}}</ref> Much of his early life was portrayed in his autobiographical book, ''America America'', which he made into a [[America America|1963 film]]. In it, he describes his family as "alienated" from both their parents' Greek Orthodox values and from those of "mainstream America".<ref name= Rapf/>{{rp|23}} His mother's family were cotton merchants who imported cotton from England and sold it wholesale. His father had become a rug merchant after immigrating to the United States, and he expected his son would someday take over the family business.<ref name=Dornsife_article>{{cite web |url=https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/a-great-filmmaker-and-a-complex-man/ |title=A Great Filmmaker and a Complex Man |publisher=USC Dornsife |last=Johnson |first=Pamela J. |date=January 1, 2006}}</ref>

After attending public schools through high school, Kazan enrolled at [[Williams College]] in Massachusetts, where he helped pay his way by waiting tables and washing dishes; he still graduated ''cum laude''. He also worked as a bartender at various fraternities but never joined one.  While a student at Williams, he earned the nickname "Gadg" (for Gadget) because, he said, "I was small, compact, and handy to have around."<ref name="Rothstein">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/obituaries/28CND-KAZAN.html|title=Elia Kazan, Influential Director, Dies at 94 |last= Rothstein|first=Mervyn|date=September 28, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 28, 2009}}</ref> The nickname was eventually taken up by his stage and film stars. In ''[[America America]]'', Kazan tells how and why his family left Turkey and moved to the United States. Kazan observes that much of it came from stories that he heard as a young boy. He says during an interview that "it's all true: the wealth of the family was put on the back of a donkey, and my uncle, really still a boy, went to Istanbul ... to gradually bring the family there to escape the oppressive circumstances. ... It's also true that he lost the money on the way, and when he got there he swept rugs in a little store."<ref name="Young">{{cite book |last=Young |first=Jeff |title=Kazan: The Master Director Discusses his Films |location= New York |publisher=Newmarket Press |year=1999 |pages=272–73}}</ref>

Kazan noted some of the controversial aspects of what he put in the film: "I used to say to myself when I was making the film that America was a dream of total freedom in all areas."<ref name= Young/> To make his point, the character who portrays Kazan's uncle Avraam kisses the ground when he gets through customs, while the Statue of Liberty and the American flag are in the background. Kazan had considered whether that kind of scene might be too much for American audiences:
{{blockquote|text=I hesitated about that for a long time. A lot of people, who don't understand how desperate people can get, advised me to cut it. When I am accused of being excessive by the critics, they're talking about moments like that. But I wouldn't take it out for the world.  It actually happened. Believe me, if a Turk could get out of Turkey and come here, even now, he would kiss the ground. To oppressed people, America is still a dream.<ref name=Young/>}}

Before undertaking ''America America'', Kazan wanted to confirm many of the details about his family's background. At one point, he sat his parents down and recorded their answers to his questions. He remembers eventually asking his father a "deeper question: 'Why America? What were you hoping for?{{'"}} His mother gave him the answer: "A.E. brought us here." Kazan states that "A.E. was my uncle Avraam Elia, the one who left the Anatolian village with the donkey. At twenty-eight, somehow—this was the wonder—he made his way to New York. He sent home money and in time brought my father over. Father sent for my mother and my baby brother and me when I was four."<ref name=Kazan2>{{cite book |first=Kazan |last=Elia |title=Kazan on Directing |publisher=Vintage |date=January 2010 |pages=218–19}}</ref> Kazan writes of ''America America'', "It's my favorite of all the films I've made; the first film that was entirely mine."<ref name="Kazan2" />

== Career ==
=== 1930s: Stage career ===
[[File:Group-Theatre-1938.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Kazan (back row, right) with other members of the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]] in 1938]]

In 1932, after spending two years at the [[Yale University]] School of Drama, he moved to New York City to become a professional stage actor. He continued his professional studies at the [[Juilliard School]] where he studied singing with [[Lucia Dunham]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/04/03/82714582.html|title=Mrs. Lucia Dunham, Juilliard Teacher|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 3, 1959|page=27|url-access= subscription }}</ref> His first opportunity came with a small group of actors engaged in presenting plays containing "social commentary". They were called the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]], which showcased many lesser known plays with deep social or political messages. After struggling to be accepted by them, he discovered his first strong sense of self in America within the "family of the Group Theatre, and more loosely in the radical social and cultural movements of the time", writes film author Joanna E. Rapf.<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|23}}

In his autobiography, Kazan writes of the "lasting impact on him of the Group", noting in particular [[Lee Strasberg]] and [[Harold Clurman]] as "father figures", along with his close friendship with playwright [[Clifford Odets]]. During an interview with Michel Ciment, Kazan described the Group:

{{blockquote|The Group was the best thing professionally that ever happened to me. I met two wonderful men. Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman, both of whom were around thirty years old. They were magnetic, fearless leaders. During the summer I was an apprentice, they were entertaining in a [[Jewish summer camp]]{{nbsp}}... At the end of the summer they said to me: "You may have talent for something, but it's certainly not acting."{{sfn|Ciment|1974|pp=15–19}}}}

Kazan also praised Strasberg as a vital leader of the Group:

{{blockquote|He carried with him the aura of a prophet, a magician, a witch doctor, a psychoanalyst, and a feared father of a Jewish home. ... [H]e was the force that held the thirty-odd members of the theatre together, and made them permanent.<ref name= Kazan>{{cite book |last=Kazan |first=Elia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7wKgsVUDUYC |title=Elia Kazan: A Life |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=1997|isbn=9780307959348 }}</ref>{{rp|61}}}}

Kazan's first national success came as a New York theatrical director.<ref name="Kazan1">{{cite book |last1=Kazan |first1=Elia |last2=Baer |first2=William |title=Elia Kazan: Interviews |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2000 |pages=vii–xi}}</ref> Although initially he worked as an actor on stage, and told early in his acting career that he had no acting ability, he surprised many critics by becoming one of the Group's most capable actors. In 1935 he played the role of a strike-leading taxi driver in a drama by Clifford Odets, ''Waiting for Lefty'', and his performance was called "dynamic", leading some to label him the "proletarian thunderbolt".<ref name="Rapf" />{{rp|23}} Among the themes that would run through all of his work were "personal alienation and an outrage over social injustice", writes film critic William Baer.<ref name="Kazan1" /> Other critics have likewise noted his "strong commitment to the social and social psychological—rather than the purely political—implications of drama".<ref name="Rapf" />{{rp|33}}

By the mid-1930s, when he was 26, Kazan began directing a number of the Group Theatre's plays, including [[Robert Ardrey]]'s well-known play ''[[Thunder Rock (play)|Thunder Rock]]''. In 1942 he achieved his first notable success by directing a play by [[Thornton Wilder]], ''[[The Skin of Our Teeth]]'', starring [[Tallulah Bankhead]] and [[Fredric March]]. The play, though controversial, was a critical and commercial success and won Wilder a [[Pulitzer Prize]]. Kazan won the [[New York Drama Critics Award]] for Best Director and Bankhead for best actress. Kazan then went on to direct ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' by [[Arthur Miller]], and then directed ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' by [[Tennessee Williams]], both of which were also successful. Kazan's wife, Molly Thacher, the reader for the Group, discovered Williams and awarded him a "prize that launched his career".<ref name="Lahr">{{cite magazine |last=Lahr |first=John |author-link=John Lahr |date=December 13, 2010 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/12/13/101213crat_atlarge_lahr |title=Method Man: Elia Kazan's Singular Career |magazine=The New Yorker }}</ref>

The Group Theatre's summer rehearsal headquarters was at [[Pine Brook Country Club]], located in the countryside of [[Nichols, Connecticut]], during the 1930s and early 1940s. Along with Kazan were numerous other artists, including [[Harry Morgan]], [[John Garfield]], [[Luise Rainer]], [[Frances Farmer]], [[Will Geer]], [[Howard da Silva]], [[Clifford Odets]], [[Lee J. Cobb]], and [[Irwin Shaw]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brenman-Gibson |first1=Margaret |title=Clifford Odets: American Playwright: The Years from 1906 to 1940 |date=1981 |publisher=Atheneum |location=New York |isbn=0-689-111-60-6 |page=410 |url=|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cliffordodetsame1981bren/page/410/mode/1up |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter=Survival in Public 1935–1940}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pinewoodlake.org/ |title=Pinewood Lake website retrieved on 2010-09-10 |access-date=September 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727174723/http://www.pinewoodlake.org/ |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Images of America |publisher=Trumbull Historical Society |year=1997 |page=123}}</ref>

=== 1940s: The Actors Studio, early films ===
In 1940, Kazan had a large supporting role as a flamboyantly dressed gangster in the boxing thriller ''[[City for Conquest]]'' starring [[James Cagney]], [[Ann Sheridan]] and [[Anthony Quinn]]. His stylishly distinctive but raffish clothing seems to have been copied by [[Frank Sinatra]] a decade and a half later and his part is both sympathetic and extremely dramatic. In 1947, he founded the [[Actors Studio]], a non-profit workshop, with actors [[Robert Lewis (director)|Robert Lewis]] and [[Cheryl Crawford]]. In 1951, [[Lee Strasberg]] became its director after Kazan left for Hollywood to focus on his career as a movie director. It remained a non-profit enterprise. Strasberg introduced the "[[Method acting|Method]]" to the Actors Studio, an umbrella term for a constellation of systemizations of [[Konstantin Stanislavski]]'s teachings. The "Method" school of acting became the predominant system of post-World War II Hollywood.

Among Strasberg's students were [[Montgomery Clift]], [[Mildred Dunnock]], [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]], [[Karl Malden]], [[Patricia Neal]], [[Maureen Stapleton]], [[Eli Wallach]], and [[James Whitmore]]. Kazan directed two of the Studio's protégés, Karl Malden and [[Marlon Brando]], in the [[Tennessee Williams]] play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. Although  he was at the height of his stage success, Kazan turned to Hollywood as a director of motion pictures. He first directed two short films but his first feature film was ''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945 film)|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]'' (1945), one of his first attempts to film dramas focused on contemporary concerns, which later became his forte. Two years later he directed ''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]'', where he tackled a seldom-discussed topic in the United States, [[antisemitism]], for which he won his first Oscar as Best Director. In 1947, he directed the courtroom drama ''[[Boomerang (1947 film)|Boomerang!]]'' In 1949, he again dealt with a controversial subject when he directed ''[[Pinky (1949 film)|Pinky]]'', which dealt with issues of [[racism in the United States]], and was nominated for three Academy Awards.

=== 1950s: Rise to prominence ===
In 1950, Kazan directed ''[[Panic in the Streets (film)|Panic in the Streets]]'', starring [[Richard Widmark]], a thriller shot on the streets of [[New Orleans]]. In that film, Kazan experimented with a documentary style of cinematography, which succeeded in "energizing" the action scenes.<ref name= Freer/> He won the [[Venice Film Festival]] International Award as director, and the film also won two Academy Awards. Kazan had requested that [[Zero Mostel]] also act in the film, despite Mostel being "blacklisted" as a result of [[HUAC]] testimony a few years earlier. Kazan writes of his decision:
{{blockquote|Each director has a favorite in his cast… my favorite this time was Zero Mostel… I thought him an extraordinary artist and a delightful companion, one of the funniest and most original men I'd ever met… I constantly sought his company… He was one of the three people whom I rescued from the "industry's" blacklist… For a long time, Zero had not been able to get work in films, but I got him in my film.<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp|383}}}}

In 1951, after introducing and directing [[Marlon Brando]] and [[Karl Malden]] in the stage version, he went on to cast both in the film version of the play, ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'', which won four Oscars and was nominated for twelve. Despite these plaudits, the film was considered a step back cinematically with the feel of filmed theater; though Kazan did at first use a more open setting, he then felt compelled to revert to the stage atmosphere to remain true to the script. He explains:

{{blockquote|On "Streetcar" we worked very hard to open it up, and then went back to the play because we'd lost all the compression. In the play, these people were trapped in a room with each other. What I actually did was to make the set smaller. As the story progressed… the set got smaller and smaller.<ref name=Stevens/><ref name=Freer/>}}

Kazan's next film was ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'' (1952) which also starred Marlon Brando. This time the film added real atmosphere with the use of location shots and strong character accents. Kazan called this his "first real film" because of those factors.<ref name=Freer/> In 1954, he again used Brando as a star in ''[[On the Waterfront]]''. As a continuation of the socially relevant themes that he developed in New York, the film exposed corruption within New York's longshoremen's union. It too was nominated for twelve [[Academy Awards]], and won eight, including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], and [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] for Marlon Brando. ''On the Waterfront'' was also the screen debut for [[Eva Marie Saint]], who won the Oscar for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for her role. Saint recalls that Kazan selected her for the role after he had her do an improvisational skit with Brando playing the other character. She had no idea that he was looking to fill any particular film part, however, but remembers that Kazan set up the scenario with Brando which brought out surprising emotions:

{{blockquote|text=I ended up crying. Crying and laughing{{nbsp}}... I mean there was such an attraction there{{nbsp}}... That smile of his{{nbsp}}... He was very tender and funny{{nbsp}}... And Kazan, in his genius, saw the chemistry there.<ref name=Schickel>{{cite book |last=Schickel |first=Richard |title=Elia Kazan: A Biography |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2005}}</ref>{{rp|295–296}}}}

''Life'' magazine described ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' as the "most brutal movie of the year" but with "the year's tenderest love scenes", and stating that Saint was a "new discovery" in films. In its cover story about Saint, it speculated that it will probably be as Edie in ''On the Waterfront'' that she "starts her real trip to fame".<ref>''Life'' magazine, July 19, 1954, pp. 45–50.<!-- Headline would be useful so we can use {{cite magazine}} --></ref>

The film made use of extensive on-location street scenes and waterfront shots, and included a notable score by noted composer [[Leonard Bernstein]].

After the success of ''On the Waterfront'', he went on to direct another screen adaptation of a [[John Steinbeck]] novel, ''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]'' (1955). As director, Kazan again used another unknown actor, [[James Dean]]. Kazan had seen Dean on stage in New York and after an audition gave him the starring role along with an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Dean flew back to Los Angeles with Kazan in 1954, the first time he had ever flown in a plane, bringing his clothes in a brown paper bag.<ref name=Springer>{{cite book |last=Springer |first=Claudia |title=James Dean Transfigured: The Many Faces of Rebel Iconography |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2007}}</ref> The film's success introduced James Dean to the world and established him as a popular actor. He went on to star in ''[[Rebel Without a Cause]]'' (1955), directed by Kazan's friend [[Nicholas Ray]], and then ''[[Giant (1956 film)|Giant]]'' (1956), directed by [[George Stevens]].

Author Douglas Rathgeb recounts the difficulties Kazan had in turning Dean into a new star, noting how Dean was a controversial figure at Warner Bros. from the time he arrived. There were rumors that he "kept a loaded gun in his studio trailer; that he drove his motorcycle dangerously down studio streets or sound stages; that he had bizarre and unsavory friends."<ref name= Rathgeb>{{cite book |last=Rathgeb |first=Douglas L. |title=The Making of Rebel Without a Cause |publisher=McFarland |year=2004 |page= 20}}</ref>  As a result, Kazan was forced to "baby-sit the young actor in side-by-side trailers", so he would not run away during production. Co-star [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]] worked overtime to quell Dean's panic attacks. In general, Dean was oblivious to Hollywood's methods, and Rathgeb notes that "his radical style did not mesh with Hollywood's corporate gears".

Dean was amazed at his own performance on screen when he later viewed a rough cut of the film. Kazan had invited director [[Nicholas Ray]] to a private showing, with Dean, as Ray was looking for someone to play the lead in ''Rebel Without a Cause''. Ray watched Dean's powerful acting on the screen; but it seemed impossible that it was the same person in the room. Ray felt Dean was shy and totally withdrawn as he sat there hunched over. "Dean himself did not seem to believe it", notes Rathgeb. "He watched himself with an odd, almost adolescent fascination, as if he were admiring someone else."<ref name=Rathgeb/> The film also made good use of on-location and outdoor scenes, along with effective use of early widescreen format, making the film one of Kazan's most accomplished works. James Dean died the following year, at the age of 24, in an accident with his sports car about 200 miles north of Los Angeles. He had only made three films, and the only completed film he ever saw was ''East of Eden''.

=== 1960s: Continued work ===
{{expand section|does not discuss his last five films|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Elia Kazan NYWTS (cropped).jpg|thumb|Elia Kazan in 1967]]
In 1961, Kazan introduced [[Warren Beatty]] in his first screen appearance with a starring role in ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]'' (1961), with [[Natalie Wood]]; the film was nominated for two Oscars and won one. Author [[Peter Biskind]] points out that Kazan "was the first in a string of major directors Beatty sought out, mentors or father figures from whom he wanted to learn."<ref name=Biskind>{{cite book |last=Biskind |first=Peter |title=Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2010 |pages=24–33}}</ref> Biskind notes also that they "were wildly dissimilar—mentor vs. protégé, director vs. actor, immigrant outsider vs. native son. Kazan was armed with the confidence born of age and success, while Beatty was virtually aflame with the arrogance of youth."<ref name=Biskind/> Kazan later recorded his impressions of Beatty:

{{blockquote|Warren—it was obvious the first time I saw him—wanted it all and wanted it his way. Why not? He had the energy, a very keen intelligence, and more chutzpah than any Jew I've ever known. Even more than me. Bright as they come, intrepid, and with that thing all women secretly respect: complete confidence in his sexual powers, confidence so great that he never had to advertise himself, even by hints.<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp|603}}}}

Biskind describes an episode during the first week of shooting, where Beatty was angered at something Kazan said: "The star lashed out at the spot where he knew Kazan was most vulnerable, the director's friendly testimony before the HCUA. He snapped, 'Lemme ask you something—why did you name all those names?{{'"}}<ref name=Biskind/>

Beatty recalled the episode: "In some patricidal attempt to stand up to the great Kazan, I arrogantly and stupidly challenged him on it." Biskind relates how "Kazan grabbed his arm, asking, 'What did you say?' and dragged him off to a tiny dressing room{{nbsp}}... whereupon the director proceeded to justify himself for two hours."<ref name=Biskind/> Beatty, years later, during a [[Kennedy Center]] tribute to Kazan, stated to the audience that Kazan "had given him the most important break in his career".<ref name=Biskind/>{{rp|23}}

Beatty's costar, [[Natalie Wood]], was in a transition period in her career, having mostly been cast in roles as a child or teenager, and she was now hoping to be cast in adult roles. Biographer [[Suzanne Finstad]] notes that a "turning point" in her life as an actress was upon seeing the film ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'': "She was transformed, in awe of Kazan and of Vivien Leigh's performance{{nbsp}}... [who] became a role model for Natalie."<ref name=Finstad>{{cite book |last=Finstad |first=Suzanne |title=Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood |publisher=Three Rivers Press |year=2001}}</ref>{{rp|107}} In 1961, after a "series of bad films, her career was already in decline", notes Rathgeb.<ref name=Rathgeb/>{{rp|199}} Kazan writes that the "sages" of the film community declared her as "washed up" as an actress, although he still wanted to interview her for his next film:

{{blockquote|When I saw her, I detected behind the well-mannered 'young wife' front a desperate twinkle in her eyes{{nbsp}}... I talked with her more quietly then and more personally. I wanted to find out what human material was there, what her inner life was{{nbsp}}... Then she told me she was being psychoanalyzed. That did it. Poor R.J. [Wagner, Wood's husband], I said to myself. I liked [[Robert Wagner|Bob Wagner]], I still do.<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp|602}}}}

Kazan cast her as the female lead in ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]'', and her career rebounded. Finstad feels that despite Wood never receiving training in Method acting techniques, "working with Kazan brought her to the greatest emotional heights of her career. The experience was exhilarating but wrenching for Natalie, who faced her demons on ''Splendor''."<ref name=Finstad/>{{rp|259}} She adds that a scene in the film, as a result of "Kazan's wizardry{{nbsp}}... produced a hysteria in Natalie that may be her most powerful moment as an actress."<ref name=Finstad/>{{rp|260}}

Actor [[Gary Lockwood]], who also acted in the film, felt that "Kazan and Natalie were a terrific marriage, because you had this beautiful girl, and you had somebody that could get things out of her." Kazan's favorite scene in the movie was the last one, when Wood goes back to see her lost first love, Bud (Beatty). Kazan recalled: "It's terribly touching to me. I still like it when I see it. And I certainly didn't need to tell her how to play it. She understood it perfectly."<ref name=Finstad/>{{rp|263}} 

== Collaborators ==
Kazan was noted for his close collaboration with screenwriters. On Broadway, he worked with [[Arthur Miller]], [[Tennessee Williams]], and [[William Inge]]; in film, he worked again with Willams (''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and ''Baby Doll''), Inge (''Splendor in the Grass''), [[Budd Schulberg]] (''On the Waterfront'' and ''A Face in the Crowd''), [[John Steinbeck]] (''Viva Zapata!''), and [[Harold Pinter]] (''The Last Tycoon''). As an instrumental figure in the careers of many of the best writers of his time, "he always treated them and their work with the utmost respect."<ref name=Kazan1/> In 2009, a previously unproduced screenplay by Williams, ''[[The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond]]'', was released as a film. Williams wrote the screenplay specifically for Kazan to direct during the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/11/unproduced-tennessee-williams-screenplay-finally-reaching-screens.html |last=Ng |first=David |title=Unproduced Tennessee Williams screenplay finally reaching movie theaters |type=blog |website=Culture Monster |via=Los Angeles Times |date=November 25, 2009}}</ref>

Among Kazan's other films were ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950), ''East of Eden'' (1955), ''Baby Doll'' (1956), ''Wild River'' (1960), and ''The Last Tycoon'' (1976). Williams became one of Kazan's closest and most loyal friends, and Kazan often pulled Williams out of "creative slumps" by redirecting his focus with new ideas. In 1959, in a letter to Kazan, he writes, "Some day you will know how much I value the great things you did with my work, how you lifted it above its measure by your great gift."<ref name=Lahr/>

==Directing style==

[[File:Seated-Splendor-Stevens.JPG|thumb|left|On the set of ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]'' (1961)]]

===Preference for unknown actors===
Kazan strove for "cinematic realism", a quality he often achieved by discovering and working with unknown actors, many of whom treated him as their mentor, which gave him the flexibility to depict "social reality with both accuracy and vivid intensity".<ref name=Kazan1/> He also felt that casting the right actors accounted for 90% of a movie's ultimate success or failure.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2011-feb-21-la-et-casting-directors-20110221-story.html |last=Johnson |first=Reed |title=Countdown to the Oscars: No Oscar love for casting directors |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 21, 2011}}</ref> As a result of his efforts, he also gave actors such as [[Lee Remick]], [[Jo Van Fleet]], [[Warren Beatty]], [[Andy Griffith]], [[Eva Marie Saint]], [[James Dean]] and [[Jack Palance]] their first major movie roles. He explained to director and producer [[George Stevens Jr.]] that he felt that "big stars are barely trained or not very well trained. They also have bad habits{{nbsp}}... they're not pliable anymore." Kazan also describes how and why he gets to know his actors on a personal level:<ref name=Stevens>{{cite book |last=Stevens |first=George Jr. |title=Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2006 |pages=389–408}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Now what I try to do is get to know them very well. I take them to dinner. I talk to them. I meet their wives. I find out what the hell the human material is that I'm dealing with, so that by the time I take an unknown he's not an unknown to me.<ref name=Stevens/>}}

As an example, Kazan recalled during an interview how he came to understand James Dean:

{{blockquote|When I met him he said, "I'll take you for a ride on my motorbike{{nbsp}}..." It was his way of communicating with me, saying "I hope you like me,{{nbsp}}..." I thought he was an extreme grotesque of a boy, a twisted boy. As I got to know his father, as I got to know about his family, I learned that he had been, in fact, twisted by the denial of love{{nbsp}}... I went to [[Jack L. Warner|Jack Warner]] and told him I wanted to use an absolutely unknown boy. Jack was a crapshooter of the first order, and said, "Go ahead."<ref name=Stevens/>}}

===Topics of personal and social realism===
Kazan chose his subjects to express personal and social events that he was familiar with. He described his thought process before taking on a project:

{{blockquote|I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme. In some way the channel of the film should also be in my own life. I start with an instinct. With ''East of Eden''{{nbsp}}... it's really the story of my father and me, and I didn't realize it for a long time{{nbsp}}... In some subtle or not-so-subtle way, every film is autobiographical. A thing in my life is expressed by the essence of the film. Then I know it experientially, not just mentally. I've got to feel that it's in some way about me, some way about my struggles, some way about my pain, my hopes.<ref name=Stevens/>}}

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Kazan-Face-still.jpg|thumb|left|[[Andy Griffith]], in first film role, with [[Patricia Neal]], from ''A Face in the Crowd'' (1957) {{pufc|Kazan-Face-still.jpg|date=June 10, 2014}}]] -->
Film historian Joanna E. Rapf notes that among the methods Kazan used in his work with actors, was his initial focus on "reality", although his style was not defined as "naturalistic". She adds: "He respects his script, but casts and directs with a particular eye for expressive action and the use of emblematic objects."<ref name=Rapf>{{cite book |last=Rapf |first=Joanna E. |title=On the Waterfront |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003}}</ref>{{rp|33}} Kazan stated that "unless the character is somewhere in the actor himself, you shouldn't cast him."<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|33}} In his later years, he changed his mind about some of the philosophy behind the Group Theatre, in that he no longer felt that the theater was a "collective art", as he once believed:

{{blockquote|To be successful it should express the vision, the conviction, and the insistent presence of one person.<ref name="Rothstein"/>}}

Film author [[Peter Biskind]] described Kazan's career as "fully committed to art and politics, with the politics feeding the work".<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|22}} Kazan, however, has downplayed that impression:

{{blockquote|I don't think basically I'm a political animal. I think I'm a self-centered animal{{nbsp}}... I think what I was concerned about all my life was to say something artistically that was uniquely my own.<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|22}}}}

Nonetheless, there have been clear messages in some of his films that involved politics in various ways. In 1954, he directed ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', written by screenwriter [[Budd Schulberg]], which was a film about union corruption in New York. Some critics consider it "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema".<ref name=Kazan1/> Another political film was ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'' (1957). His protagonist, played by [[Andy Griffith]] (in his film debut) is not a politician, yet his career suddenly becomes deeply involved in politics. According to film author Harry Keyishian, Kazan and screenwriter [[Budd Schulberg]] were using the film to warn audiences about the dangerous potential of the new medium of television. Kazan explains that he and Schulberg were trying to warn "of the power TV would have in the political life of the nation". Kazan states, "Listen to what the candidate says; don't be taken in by his charm or his trust-inspiring personality. Don't buy the advertisement; buy what's in the package."<ref>{{cite book |last=Keyishian |first=Harry |title=Screening Politics: The Politician in American Movies |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2003 |page=62}}</ref>

===Use of “method” acting===

As a product of the Group Theatre and Actors Studio, he was most noted for his use of [[method acting|"Method" actors]], especially Brando and Dean. During an interview in 1988, Kazan said, "I did whatever was necessary to get a good performance ''including'' so-called Method acting. I made them run around the set, I scolded them, I inspired jealousy in their girlfriends{{nbsp}}... The director is a ''desperate beast!''{{nbsp}}... You don't deal with actors as dolls. You deal with them as people who are poets to a certain degree."<ref name=Kazan1/> Actor [[Robert De Niro]] called him a "master of a new kind of psychological and behavioral faith in acting".<ref name="Rothstein"/> Kazan was aware of the limited range of his directing abilities:

{{blockquote|I don't have great range. I am no good with music or spectacles. The classics are beyond me{{nbsp}}... I am a mediocre director except when a play or film touches a part of my life's experience{{nbsp}}... I do have courage, even some daring. I am able to talk to actors{{nbsp}}... to arouse them to better work. I have strong, even violent feelings, and they are assets.<ref name="Rothstein"/>}}

Kazan explained that he tried to inspire his actors to offer ideas:

{{blockquote|When I talk to the actors they begin to give me ideas, and I grab them because the ideas they give me turn them on. I want the breath of life from them rather than the mechanical fulfillment of the movement which I asked for{{nbsp}}... I love actors. I used to be an actor for eight years, so I do appreciate their job.<ref name=Stevens/>}}

Kazan held strong ideas about the scenes and would try to merge an actor's suggestions and inner feelings with his own. Despite the strong eroticism created in ''[[Baby Doll]]'', for example, he set limits. Before shooting a seduction scene between [[Eli Wallach]] and [[Carroll Baker]], he privately asked Wallach, "Do you think you actually go through with seducing that girl?" Wallach writes, "I hadn't thought about that question before, but I answered{{nbsp}}... 'No'." Kazan replies, "Good idea, play it that way."<ref name=Wallach>{{cite book |last=Wallach |first=Eli |title=The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=2005 |page=172}}</ref> Kazan, many years later, explained his rationale for scenes in that film:

{{blockquote|What is erotic about sex to me is the seduction, not the act{{nbsp}}... The scene on the swings (Eli Wallach and Carroll Baker) in ''Baby Doll'' is my exact idea of what eroticism in films should be.<ref>{{cite book |last=Young |first=Jeff |title=Kazan: The Master Director Discusses his films – Interviews with Elia Kazan |publisher=Newmarket Press |year=1999 |page=224}}</ref>}}

===Being an “actor's director”===
[[File:A Face in the Crowd publicity photo (Patricia Neal & Andy Griffith).jpg|thumb|right|[[Patricia Neal]] and [[Andy Griffith]] in ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'' (1957)]]
Joanna Rapf adds that Kazan was most admired for his close work with actors, noting that director [[Nicholas Ray]] considered him "the best actor's director the United States has ever produced".<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|22}} Film historian Foster Hirsch explains that "he created virtually a new acting style, which was the style of the Method{{nbsp}}... [that] allowed for the actors to create great depth of psychological realism".<ref name=Hirsch>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-17-la-et-classic-hollywood17-2010feb17-story.html |last=King |first=Susan |title=Elia Kazan, an actor's director |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 17, 2010}}</ref>

Among the actors who described Kazan as an important influence in their career was [[Patricia Neal]], who co-starred with [[Andy Griffith]] in ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'' (1957): "He was very good. He was an actor and he knew how we acted. He would come and talk to you privately. I liked him a lot."<ref name=Hirsch/> [[Anthony Franciosa]], a supporting actor in the film, explains how Kazan encouraged his actors:

{{blockquote|He would always say, "Let me see what you can do. Let me see it. Don't talk to me about it." You felt that you had a man who was completely on your side—no qualms about anything you did. He gave you a tremendous sense of confidence{{nbsp}}... He never made me feel as though I was acting for the camera. Many times, I never even knew where the camera was.<ref>{{cite book |last=Salvi |first=Delia |title=Friendly Enemies: Maximizing the Director–Actor Relationship |publisher=Watson-Guptill |year=2002 |pages=239–240}}</ref>}}

In order to get quality acting from [[Andy Griffith]], in his first screen appearance, and achieve what Schickel calls "an astonishing movie debut",<ref name=Schickel/>{{rp|338}} Kazan would often take surprising measures. In one important and highly emotional scene, for example, Kazan had to give Griffith fair warning: "I may have to use extraordinary means to make you do this. I may have to get out of line. I don't know any other way of getting an extraordinary performance out of an actor."<ref>{{cite book |last=Williamson |first=Jerry Wayne |title=Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did to the Mountains and What the Mountains Did to the Movies |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1995 |page=168}}</ref> Actress [[Terry Moore (actress)|Terry Moore]] calls Kazan her "best friend", and notes that "he made you feel better than you thought you could be. I never had another director that ever touched him. I was spoiled for life".<ref name="Hirsch" /> "He would find out if your life was like the character", says [[Carroll Baker]], star of ''Baby Doll''; "he was the best director with actors".<ref name="Hirsch" />

Kazan's need to remain close to his actors continued up to his last film, ''[[The Last Tycoon (1976 film)|The Last Tycoon]]'' (1976). He remembered that [[Robert De&nbsp;Niro]], the star of the film, "would do almost anything to succeed", and even cut his weight down from 170 to 128 pounds for the role. Kazan adds that De&nbsp;Niro "is one of a select number of actors I've directed who work hard at their trade, and the only one who asked to rehearse on Sundays. Most of the others play tennis. Bobby and I would go over the scenes to be shot."<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp|766}}

The powerful dramatic roles Kazan brought out from many of his actors was due, partly, to his ability to recognize their personal traits. Although he did not know De Niro before this film, for example, Kazan later writes, "Bobby is more meticulous{{nbsp}}... he's very imaginative. He's very precise. He figures everything out both inside and outside. He has good emotion. He's a character actor: everything he does he calculates. In a good way, but he calculates."<ref name=Kazan1/>{{rp|210}} Kazan developed and used those personality traits for his character in the film.<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp|766}} Although the film did poorly at the box office, some reviewers praised De&nbsp;Niro's acting. Film critic Marie Brenner writes that "for De&nbsp;Niro, it is a role that surpasses even his brilliant and daring portrayal of [[Vito Corleone]] in [[The Godfather Part II|''The Godfather, part&nbsp;II'']],{{nbsp}}... [his] performance deserves to be compared with the very finest".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brenner |first=Marie |title=Tender is the Plight |magazine=Texas Monthly |date=January 1977}}</ref> [[Marlon Brando]], in his autobiography, goes into detail about the influence Kazan had on his acting:

{{blockquote|
I have worked with many movie directors—some good, some fair, some terrible. Kazan was the best actors' director by far of any I've worked for{{nbsp}}... the only one who ever really stimulated me, got into a part with me and virtually acted it with me{{nbsp}}... he chose good actors, encouraged them to improvise, and then improvised on the improvisation{{nbsp}}... He gave his cast freedom and{{nbsp}}... was always emotionally involved in the process and his instincts were perfect{{nbsp}}... I've never seen a director who became as deeply and emotionally involved in a scene as Gadg{{nbsp}}... he got so wrought up that he started chewing on his hat.

He was an arch-manipulator of actors' feelings, and he was extraordinarily talented; perhaps we will never see his like again.<ref name=Brando>{{cite book |last1=Brando |first1=Marlon |last2=Lindsey |first2=Robert |title=Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me |publisher=Random House |year=1994 |pages=169–176}}</ref>}}

==HUAC testimony==
{{see also|Hollywood blacklist}}
Kazan testified before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] (HUAC) in 1952 during the midst of the [[Red Scare#Second_Red_Scare_(1947–1957)|Red Scare]] that journalist Michael Mills calls "arguably the most controversial period in Hollywood history".<ref name=Mills>{{cite web |last=Mills |first=Michael |url=http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/kazan/ |title=Postage Paid: In defense of Elia Kazan |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |publisher=Modern Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810052210/http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/kazan/}}</ref> When Kazan was in his mid-20s in the [[Great Depression|Depression]] years 1934 to 1936, he had been a member of the  [[Communist Party USA]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tailleur |first1=Roger |title=Elia Kazan and the House Un-American Activities Committee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43754827 |jstor=43754827 |journal=Film Comment |date=Fall 1966 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=43–59}}</ref>

In April 1952, the HUAC called on Kazan, under oath, to identify Communists from that period 16 years earlier. Kazan initially refused to provide names, but eventually named eight former [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]] members who he said had been Communists: [[Clifford Odets]], [[J. Edward Bromberg]], Lewis Leverett, [[Morris Carnovsky]], [[Phoebe Brand]], Tony Kraber, Ted Wellman, and [[Paula Strasberg|Paula Miller]] (who later married [[Lee Strasberg]]).<ref>{{cite web |last= Schacher |first=Yael |website=[[The Village Voice]] |title=The People Kazan Named |date=16 March 1999 |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/the-people-kazan-named/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123003957/https://www.villagevoice.com/the-people-kazan-named/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2025}}</ref> He testified that Odets quit the party at the same time he did.<ref name="AP-1952">{{cite news |title=Director Names Stage Reds |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7dkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2659,3093022|agency=Associated Press |date=April 12, 1952|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page=2|access-date=August 7, 2010}}</ref> Kazan alleged that all the persons named were already known to the HUAC, although this has been contested.<ref name="Rothstein"/><ref name="Navasky">{{cite book|last=Navasky|first=Victor|author-link=Victor Navasky |title=Naming Names|url=https://archive.org/details/namingnames00nava|url-access=limited|publisher=[[Viking Press]] |location= New York|year=1980|pages=[https://archive.org/details/namingnames00nava/page/199 199]–222|isbn = 978-0-670-50393-3}}</ref><ref name=WP_article>{{cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Megan |title=Elia Kazan: The Ferocious Look Back |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1988/06/26/elia-kazan-the-ferocious-look-back/e9345b5b-378f-4e4e-a52d-273cf52d4b92/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=25 June 1988}}</ref> He later acknowledged that he received a letter detailing how his naming of [[Art Smith (actor)|Art Smith]] damaged the actor's career.{{sfn|Kazan|1988|p=467}} Kazan's naming names cost him many friends within the film industry, including playwright [[Arthur Miller]], although Kazan notes the two did work together again.{{sfn|Kazan|1988|p=472}}

In his book ''How We Forgot the Cold War'' (2012), historian [[Jon Wiener]] wrote: "Lots of people named names, but Kazan went further than any of them, when, two days later [after his April 1952 testimony], he took out an ad in the ''New York Times'' explaining his reasons for naming names and urging others to follow his example."<ref>{{cite book |last=Wiener |first=Jon |title=How We Forgot the Cold War: A Journey Across America |year=2012 |page=70 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520271418}}</ref> In his large, defiant ad entitled "A STATEMENT by Elia Kazan", the director briefly chronicled his 1934–36 experiences in the Communist Party, and then he wrote:{{blockquote|The question will be asked why I did not tell this story sooner. I was held back, primarily, by concern for the reputations and employment of people who may, like myself, have left the Party many years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reelclassics.com/Directors/Kazan/kazan-article.htm |publisher=Reel Classics |title=A Statement by Elia Kazan (New York Times, 12 April 1952)}}</ref>}} Kazan added that his time in the Party "left me with the passionate conviction that we must never let the Communists get away with the pretense that they stand for the very things which they kill in their own countries."{{sfn|Navasky|1980|pp=203–206}} Decades later in his memoirs, he still struck a defiant tone when describing his "warrior pleasure at withstanding his 'enemies,' who judged him for giving names to the HUAC".<ref>{{cite web |last=Jalon |first=Allan M. |via=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/culture-monster-blog/story/2009-12-26/arthur-miller-versus-elia-kazan-revisited |title=Arthur Miller versus Elia Kazan, revisited |type=blog |work=Culture Monster |date=December 26, 2009}}</ref> He also insisted that despite the snubs he received, he felt no lingering guilt: "There's a normal sadness about hurting people, but I'd rather hurt them a little than hurt myself a lot."<ref name=WP_article/>

When Kazan received an Honorary Academy Award in 1999, the audience was noticeably divided in their reaction, with some, including [[Jack Nicholson]], [[Nick Nolte]], [[Ed Harris]], [[Ian McKellen]], [[Frank Langella]] and [[Amy Madigan]], refusing to applaud, and others, such as actors [[Kathy Bates]], [[Meryl Streep]], [[Karl Malden]], [[Debbie Allen]], and [[Warren Beatty]], and producer [[George Stevens Jr.]], standing and applauding.<ref>{{YouTube|title=Elia Kazan receiving an Honorary Oscar|id=3YziNNCZeNs|time=1m30s}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E5DA133DF930A15751C0A96F958260|title=Kazan Honor Stirs Protest By Blacklist Survivors|date=February 23, 1999|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 28, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Calhoun |first=Ada |date=2012-04-20 |title=Cheerful Debauchery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/books/review/dropped-names-frank-langellas-memoir.html |access-date=2024-05-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Stevens speculates on why he, Beatty, and many others in the audience chose to stand and applaud:

{{blockquote|I never discussed it with Warren, but I believe we were both standing for the same reason—out of regard for the creativity, the stamina and the many fierce battles and lonely nights that had gone into the man's twenty motion pictures.<ref name=Stevens/>}}

In an interview for the [[Associated Press]], actor [[Liam Neeson]] said: "We ''are'' honoring an extraordinary artist. Period. That's what this evening's about."<ref>{{YouTube|title=USA: Hollywood: Reaction to Honorary Oscar for Kazan|id=0UBjALUYd6o|time=1m55s}}</ref> Director [[Martin Scorsese]] and actor [[Robert De Niro]] presented the award to Kazan, whom he thanked in his acceptance speech. He ended by saying: "I want to thank you all very much. I think I can just slip away."<ref>[https://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/071-25/ Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database. March 21, 1999; Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Honorary Award: To Elia Kazan in recognition of his indelible contributions to the art of motion picture direction.]</ref>

In 1982, [[Orson Welles]] was asked a question about Kazan at the [[Cinémathèque française]] in Paris. Welles replied, "Chère mademoiselle, you have chosen the wrong metteur en scène, because Elia Kazan is a traitor. He is a man who sold to McCarthy all his companions at a time when he could continue to work in New York at high salary, and having sold all his people to McCarthy, he then made a film called ''On the Waterfront'' which was a celebration of the informer." While the audience applauded, Welles said, "I have to add that he is a very good director."<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=McBride |title=What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2006 |page=108}}</ref>

''Los Angeles Times'' film critic [[Kenneth Turan]] wrote, "The only criterion for an award like this is the work." Kazan was already "denied accolades" from the [[American Film Institute]], and other film critics' associations. According to Mills, "It's time for the Academy to recognize this genius", adding that "We applauded when the great [[Charles Chaplin|Chaplin]] finally had his hour."<ref name=Mills/> In response, Joseph McBride, former vice president of the [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]], claimed that an honorary award recognizes "the totality of what he represents, and Kazan's career, post 1952, was built on the ruin of other people's careers."<ref name=Still_Chill_article/> In subsequent interviews, Kazan explained some of the early events that made him decide to become a friendly witness, most notably in relation to the Group Theatre, which he called his first "family", and the "best thing professionally" that ever happened to him:

{{blockquote |The Group Theatre said that we shouldn't be committed to any fixed political program set by other people outside the organization. I was behaving treacherously to the Group when I met downtown at CP [Communist Party] headquarters, to decide among the Communists what we should do in the Group, and then come back and present a united front, pretending we had not been in caucus ...

I was tried by the Party and that was one of the reasons I became so embittered later. The trial was on the issue of my refusal to follow instructions, that we should strike in the Group Theatre, and insist that the membership have control of its organization. I said it was an artistic organization, and I backed up Clurman and Strasberg who were not Communists ... The trial left an indelible impression on me ... Everybody else voted against me and they stigmatized me and condemned my acts and attitude. They were asking for confession and self-humbling. I went home that night and told my wife "I am resigning." But for years after I resigned, I was still faithful to their way of thinking. I still believed in it. But not in the American Communists. I used to make a difference and think: "These people here are damned fools but in Russia they have got the real thing", until I learned about the [[Hitler-Stalin pact]], and gave up on the [[USSR]].{{sfn|Ciment|1974|p=22}}}}

Mills observes that prior to becoming a "friendly witness", Kazan discussed his decision-making process during a visit at his Connecticut home from longtime friend Arthur Miller:
{{blockquote |To defend a secrecy I don't think right and to defend people who have already been named or soon would be by someone else… I hate the Communists and have for many years, and don't feel right about giving up my career to defend them. I will give up my film career if it is in the interests of defending something I believe in, but not this.<ref name= Mills />}}

Miller put his arm around Kazan and said, "Don't worry about what I'll think. Whatever you do is okay with me, because I know that your heart is in the right place."<ref name=Mills/> Miller had recorded in his journal his own perceptions about this visit. He recalled his sentiments as "being more complex. His anger was not at Kazan, whom he loved like a brother, but at the committee. At the same time he saw a side to his friend that frightened him: 'He would have sacrificed me as well.'"<ref name=WP_article/>

In his memoirs, Kazan writes that, as a result of his testimony, "the big shot had become the outsider". He also says that it strengthened his friendship with another outsider, [[Tennessee Williams]], with whom he collaborated on numerous plays and films. He called Williams "the most loyal and understanding friend I had through those black months."<ref name=Kazan/>{{rp |495}} Kazan appears as a character in ''Names'', Mark Kemble's play about former Group Theatre members' struggles with the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hirschhorn |first=Joel |date=December 4, 2001 |title=Names |url= https://variety.com/2001/legit/reviews/names-2-1200552406/ |access-date=January 27, 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Kazan was married three times.<ref name="Rothstein"/> His first wife was playwright [[Molly Kazan|Molly Day Thacher]]. They were married from 1932 until her death in 1963; this marriage produced two daughters and two sons, including screenwriter [[Nicholas Kazan]]. Molly became an especially bitter anti-communist. Film critic Leo Braudy contends that it was Molly who was the principal author of the April 1952 ''New York Times'' ad that further estranged Kazan from the Hollywood community.<ref name=Dornsife_article/>

His second marriage, to the actress [[Barbara Loden]], lasted from 1967 until her death in 1980, and produced one son. His marriage, in 1982, to [[Frances Kazan|Frances Rudge]] continued until his death in 2003. In the early 1930s, Kazan and Molly moved into an 1885 farmhouse in [[Sandy Hook, Connecticut]], where they raised their four children. The family continued to use the property as a summer and weekend retreat until 1998 when the property was put up for sale.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Dorothy |title=Director Elia Kazan Dies; Former Sandy Hook Resident |url=https://www.newtownbee.com/10032003/director-elia-kazan-diesformer-sandy-hook-resident/ |access-date=April 28, 2022 |website=The Newtown Bee |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1978, the U.S. government paid for Kazan and his family to travel to his birthplace where many of his films were to be shown. During a speech in [[Athens]], he discussed his films and his personal and business life in the U.S., along with the messages he tried to convey:

{{blockquote|In my own view, the solution is to talk about human beings and not about abstracts, to reveal the culture and the social moment as it is reflected in the behavior and the lives of individual people. Not to be "correct". To be total. So I do not believe in any ideology that does not permit—no encourage—the freedom of the individual.<ref name=Ciment1>{{cite book |editor-last=Ciment |editor-first=Michel |title=Elia Kazan: An American Odyssey |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=1988 |page=231 |isbn=0747502412}}</ref>}}

Kazan also offered his opinions about the role of the U.S. as a world model for democracy:

{{blockquote|I think you and I, all of us, have some sort of stake in the United States. If it fails, the failure will be that of us all. Of mankind itself. It will cost us all.{{nbsp}}... I think of the United States as a country which is an arena and in that arena there is a drama being played out.{{nbsp}}... I have seen that the struggle is the struggle of free men.<ref name=Ciment1/>}}

Kazan died from natural causes in his Manhattan apartment on September 28, 2003, aged 94.<ref name="Rothstein" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=La mort d'Elia Kazan |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/culture/20030929.OBS7195/la-mort-d-elia-kazan.html |website=Nouvel Obs|date=October 2, 2003 }}</ref> 

== Sexual assault allegation ==
In 2017, [[Carol Drinkwater]] accused Kazan of sexual harassment and attempted rape in 1975 when she was under consideration for a part in Kazan's film ''The Last Tycoon''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Armitstead |first=Claire |date=2017-10-20 |title=Carol Drinkwater reveals sex attack by Hollywood director Elia Kazan |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/20/carol-drinkwater-reveals-sex-attack-by-hollywood-director-elia-kazan-the-lost-girl |access-date=2021-09-30 }}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Directed features
|-
! Year !! Film !! Distributor
|-
|1945 || ''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945 film)|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]'' || [[20th Century Fox]]
|-
|rowspan="3" | 1947 || ''[[The Sea of Grass (film)|The Sea of Grass]]'' || [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
|-
| ''[[Boomerang (1947 film)|Boomerang!]]'' || rowspan=4|[[20th Century Fox]]
|-
| ''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]''
|-
| 1949 || ''[[Pinky (1949 film)|Pinky]]''
|-
| 1950 || ''[[Panic in the Streets (film)|Panic in the Streets]]''
|-
| 1951 || ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' || [[Warner Bros.]]
|-
| 1952 || ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'' || rowspan=2|[[20th Century Fox]]
|-
| 1953 || ''[[Man on a Tightrope]]''
|-
| 1954 || ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' || [[Columbia Pictures]]
|-
| 1955 || ''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]'' || rowspan=3|[[Warner Bros.]]
|-
| 1956 || ''[[Baby Doll]]''
|-
| 1957 || ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]''
|-
| 1960 || ''[[Wild River (film)|Wild River]]'' || [[20th Century Fox]]
|-
| 1961 || ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]'' || rowspan=2|[[Warner Bros.]]
|-
| 1963 || ''[[America America]]''
|-
| 1969 || ''[[The Arrangement (1969 film)|The Arrangement]]'' || [[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]]
|-
| 1972 || ''[[The Visitors (1972 film)|The Visitors]]'' || [[United Artists]]
|-
| 1976 || ''[[The Last Tycoon (1976 film)|The Last Tycoon]]'' || [[Paramount Pictures]]
|-
|}

'''Documentary'''
*''[[People of the Cumberland]]'' (1937)
*''Watchtower Over Tomorrow'' (1945)

'''As an actor'''
*''[[City for Conquest]]'' (1940)
*''[[Blues in the Night (film)|Blues in the Night]]'' (1941)

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Award
!Category
!Title
!Results
!Ref.
|-
|[[20th Academy Awards|1947]] || rowspan=8|[[Academy Awards]] || rowspan=4|[[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] || ''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]'' || {{won}} || rowspan=8|<ref name="Elia Kazan - Awards">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001415/awards?ref_=nm_awd|title= Elia Kazan – Awards|website= [[Internet Movie Database]]|access-date= April 23, 2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[24th Academy Awards|1951]] || ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[27th Academy Awards|1954]] || ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|[[28th Academy Awards|1955]] || ''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=3|[[36th Academy Awards|1963]] || [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] || rowspan=3|''[[America America]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] || {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] || {{nom}}
|-
|[[71st Academy Awards|1998]] || [[Academy Honorary Award]] || Lifetime Achievement || {{won}}
|-
|[[1st Tony Awards|1947]] || rowspan=7|[[Tony Awards]] || rowspan=3|[[Tony Award for Best Director|Best Direction]] || ''[[All My Sons]]'' || {{won}} || rowspan=7|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/person/elia-kazan-vault-0000015307|title= Elia Kazan|website= Playbill.com|access-date= April 23, 2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[3rd Tony Awards|1949]] || ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|[[10th Tony Awards|1956]] || ''[[Cat on a Hot Tin Roof]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[12th Tony Awards|1958]] || [[Tony Award for Best Play|Best Play]] || rowspan=2|''[[The Dark at the Top of the Stairs]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan=3|[[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play|Best Direction of a Play]] || {{nom}}
|-
|[[13th Tony Awards|1959]] || ''[[J.B. (play)|J.B.]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|[[14th Tony Awards|1960]] || ''[[Sweet Bird of Youth]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[5th Golden Globe Awards|1948]] || rowspan=4|[[Golden Globe Awards]] || rowspan=4|[[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Motion Picture Director]] || ''Gentleman's Agreement'' || {{won}} || rowspan=4|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/elia-kazan|title= Winners & Nominees – Elia Kazan|website= goldenglobes.com|access-date= April 23, 2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[12th Golden Globe Awards|1954]] || ''On The Waterfront'' || {{won}}
|-
|[[14th Golden Globe Awards|1956]] || ''Baby Doll'' || {{won}}
|-
|[[21st Golden Globe Awards|1963]] || ''America America'' || {{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[6th British Academy Film Awards|1952]] || rowspan=5|[[British Academy Film Awards]] || rowspan=5|[[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]] || ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' || {{nom}} || rowspan=5|<ref name="Elia Kazan - Awards"/>
|-
| ''Viva Zapata!'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[8th British Academy Film Awards|1954]] || ''On the Waterfront'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[9th British Academy Film Awards|1955]] || ''East of Eden'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[10th British Academy Film Awards|1956]] || ''[[Baby Doll]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[1952 Cannes Film Festival|1952]] || rowspan=4|[[Cannes Film Festival]] || Grand Prize of the Festival || ''Viva Zapata!'' || {{nom}} || rowspan=4|<ref name="Elia Kazan - Awards"/>
|-
|rowspan=2|[[1955 Cannes Film Festival|1955]] || Best Dramatic Film || rowspan=2|''East of Eden'' || {{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Palme d'Or]] || {{nom}}
|-
|[[1972 Cannes Film Festival|1972]] || ''The Visitors'' || {{nom}}
|-
|[[3rd Berlin International Film Festival|1953]] || rowspan=3|[[Berlin Film Festival]] || rowspan=2|[[Golden Bear]] || ''[[Man on a Tightrope]]'' || {{nom}} || <ref name="Berlinale 1953">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1953/02_programm_1953/02_Programm_1952.html |title=1st Berlin International Film Festival: In Competition |access-date=December 22, 2009 |work=berlinale.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202031630/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1953/02_programm_1953/02_Programm_1952.html |archive-date=February 2, 2010 }}</ref>
|-
|[[10th Berlin International Film Festival|1960]] || ''[[Wild River (film)|Wild River]]'' || {{nom}} || <ref name="imdb:Wild River">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054476/awards |title=IMDB.com: Awards for Wild River |access-date=January 18, 2010 |work=imdb.com}}</ref>
|-
|[[46th Berlin International Film Festival|1996]] || [[Honorary Golden Bear]] || {{n/a}} || {{won}} || <ref name="Berlinale1996">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1996/03_preistr_ger_1996/03_Preistraeger_1996.html |title=Berlinale: 1996 Prize Winners |access-date=January 1, 2012 |work=berlinale.de |archive-date=June 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630185658/https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1996/03_preistr_ger_1996/03_Preistraeger_1996.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
|1948 || rowspan=8|[[Venice Film Festival]] || rowspan=2|International Award || ''Gentleman's Agreement'' || {{nom}} || rowspan=8|<ref name="Elia Kazan - Awards"/>
|-
|1950 || rowspan=2|''Panic in the Streets'' || {{nom}}
|-
|1950 || rowspan=2|[[Leone d'Oro|Golden Lion]] {{Failed verification|date=February 2025}} || {{won}}
|-
|1951 || rowspan=2|''A Streetcar Named Desire'' || {{nom}}
|-
|1951 || Special Jury Prize || {{won}}
|-
|1954 ||[[Leone d'Oro|Golden Lion]]|| rowspan="3" |''[[On the Waterfront]]'' || {{nom}}
|-
|1954 ||[[Leone d'Argento|Silver Lion]]|| {{won}}
|-
|1955 || OCIC Award || {{won}}
|-
|}

In addition to these awards, Kazan has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elia Kazan |url=https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/elia-kazan/ |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> which is located on 6800 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://walkoffame.com/elia-kazan/|title=Elia Kazan |publisher=Hollywood Walk of Fame |date=October 25, 2019}}</ref> He is also a member of the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theaterhalloffame.org/members.html#K|title=Theater Hall of Fame members}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Accolades for Kazan's motion pictures
|-
! rowspan="2" |Year
! rowspan="2" |Picture
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#aaaade;" |Academy Awards
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#aa0;" |BAFTA Awards
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#fe1;" |Golden Globe Awards
|-
!Nominations
!Wins
!Nominations
!Wins
!Nominations
!Wins
|-
|1945
|''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945 film)|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]''
|align=center|2
|align=center|1
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1947
|''[[Boomerang (1947 film)|Boomerang]]''
|align=center|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]''
|align=center|8
|align=center|3
|
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|3
|-
|1949
|''[[Pinky (film)|Pinky]]''
|align=center|3
|align=center|3
|
|
|
|
|-
|1950
|''[[Panic in the Streets (film)|Panic in the Streets]]''
|align=center|1
|align=center|1
|
|
|
|
|-
|1951
|''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]''
|align=center|12
|align=center|4
|align=center|2
|align=center|1
|align=center|3
|align=center|1
|-
|1952
|''[[Viva Zapata!]]''
|align=center|5
|align=center|1
|align=center|2
|align=center|1
|align=center|1
|
|-
|1954
|''[[On the Waterfront]]''
|align=center|12
|align=center|8
|align=center|3
|align=center|1
|align=center|4
|align=center|4
|-
|1955
|''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]''
|align=center|4
|align=center|1
|align=center|3
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|1
|-
|1956
|''[[Baby Doll]]''
|align=center|4
|
|align=center|4
|align=center|1
|align=center|6
|align=center|2
|-
|1961
|''[[Splendor in the Grass]]''
|align=center|2
|align=center|1
|align=center|1
|
|align=center|4
|align=center|1
|-
|1963
|''[[America America]]''
|align=center|4
|align=center|1
|
|
|align=center|6
|align=center|2
|-
|1976
|''[[The Last Tycoon (1976 film)|The Last Tycoon]]''
|align=center|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" style="background-color:#bcb5c3|Total
!59
!24
!15
!4
!28
!14
|}

=== Directed Academy Award Performances ===
Under Kazan's direction, these actors have received [[Academy Award|Oscar]] nominations (and wins) for their performances in their respective roles.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" |Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" |Performer
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" |Film
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" |Winner
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[Academy Award for Best Actor]]'''
|-
|1947
|[[Gregory Peck]]
|''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1951
| rowspan="3" |[[Marlon Brando]]
|''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1952
|''[[Viva Zapata!]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1954
|''[[On the Waterfront]]''
| {{won}}
|-
|1955
|[[James Dean]]
|''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[Academy Award for Best Actress]]'''
|-
|1947
|[[Dorothy McGuire]]
|''Gentleman's Agreement''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1949
|[[Jeanne Crain]]
|''[[Pinky (film)|Pinky]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1951
|[[Vivien Leigh]]
|''A Streetcar Named Desire''
| {{won}}
|-
|1956
|[[Carroll Baker]]
|''[[Baby Doll]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1961
|[[Natalie Wood]]
|''[[Splendor in the Grass]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]]'''
|-
|1945
|[[James Dunn (actor)|James Dunn]]
|''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945 film)|A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]''
| {{won}}
|-
|1951
|[[Karl Malden]]
|''A Streetcar Named Desire''
| {{won}}
|-
|1952
|[[Anthony Quinn]]
|''Viva Zapata!''
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="3" |1954
|[[Lee J. Cobb]]
| rowspan="3" |''On the Waterfront''
| {{nom}}
|-
|Karl Malden
| {{nom}}
|-
|[[Rod Steiger]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]]'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |1947
|[[Celeste Holm]]
| rowspan="2" |''Gentleman's Agreement''
| {{won}}
|-
|[[Anne Revere]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2" |1949
|[[Ethel Barrymore]]
| rowspan="2" |''Pinky''
| {{nom}}
|-
|[[Ethel Waters]]
| {{nom}}
|-
|1951
|[[Kim Hunter]]
|''A Streetcar Named Desire''
| {{won}}
|-
|1954
|[[Eva Marie Saint]]
|''On the Waterfront''
| {{won}}
|-
|1955
|[[Jo Van Fleet]]
|''East of Eden''
| {{won}}
|-
|1956
|[[Mildred Dunnock]]
|''Baby Doll''
| {{nominated}}
|}

==Legacy==
[[File:Viva Zapata! (1952) - Trailer.webm|thumb|right|The trailer for ''[[Viva Zapata]]'' (1952) with [[Marlon Brando]] and [[Anthony Quinn]]]]
Kazan became known as an "actor's director" because he was able to elicit some of the best performances in the careers of many of his stars. Under his direction, his actors received 24 Academy Award nominations and won nine Oscars. He won as [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] for ''[[Gentleman's Agreement]]'' (1947) and for ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' (1954). Both ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1951) and ''On the Waterfront'' were nominated for twelve Academy Awards, respectively winning four and eight. With his many years with the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]] and [[Actors Studio]] in New York City and later triumphs on Broadway, he became famous "for the power and intensity of his actors' performances".<ref name="Kazan1" /> He was the pivotal figure in launching the film careers of [[Marlon Brando]], [[James Dean]], [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]], [[Eli Wallach]], [[Eva Marie Saint]], [[Warren Beatty]], [[Lee Remick]], [[Karl Malden]], and many others. Seven of Kazan's films won a total of 20 [[Academy Awards]]. [[Dustin Hoffman]] commented that he "doubted whether he, [[Robert De Niro]], or [[Al Pacino]], would have become actors without Mr. Kazan's influence."<ref name="Rothstein" />

Upon his death, at the age of 94, ''The New York Times'' characterized him as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history".<ref name="Rothstein"/> ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' and ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'', two plays he directed, are considered to be some of the greatest of the 20th century. Although he became a respected director on Broadway, he made an equally impressive transition into one of the major film directors of his time. Critic William Baer notes that throughout his career "he constantly rose to the challenge of his own aspirations", adding that "he was a pioneer and visionary who greatly affected the history of both stage and cinema".<ref name=Kazan1/> Certain of his film-related material and personal papers are contained in the [[Wesleyan University]] Cinema Archives to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wesleyan.edu/cinema/|title = The Reid Cinema Archives |publisher=Wesleyan University}}</ref>

His controversial appearance before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] in 1952 was the low point in his career, although he remained convinced he made the right decision to give the names of Group Theatre colleagues who had been Communist Party members. He stated in an interview in 1976 that "I would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did, and betray my own soul. I didn't betray it. I made a difficult decision."<ref name=Kazan1/>

During his career, Kazan won both Tony and Oscar Awards for directing on stage and screen. In 1982, President [[Ronald Reagan]] presented him with the Kennedy Center honors award, a national tribute for lifetime achievement in the arts. At the ceremony, screenwriter [[Budd Schulberg]], who wrote ''On the Waterfront'', thanked his lifelong friend saying, "Elia Kazan has touched us all with his capacity to honor not only the heroic man, but the hero in every man."<ref name="Rothstein"/>

In 1999, at the [[71st Academy Awards]], [[Martin Scorsese]] and [[Robert De Niro]] presented the [[Honorary Oscar]] to Kazan. This would be a controversial pick for the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] due to Kazan's history regarding his involvement with the [[Hollywood Blacklist]] in the 1950s.<ref name=Amid_Protests_article/> Several members of the audience including [[Nick Nolte]] and [[Ed Harris]] refused to applaud Kazan when he received the award while others such as [[Warren Beatty]], [[Meryl Streep]], [[Kathy Bates]], and [[Kurt Russell]] gave him a standing ovation.<ref>{{cite web |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=March 22, 1999 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/mar/22/awardsandprizes |title=Praise and silent protest greet Kazan's Oscar |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321064859/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/mar/22/awardsandprizes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-22-mn-19738-story.html |title=Many Refuse to Clap as Kazan Receives Oscar |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 22, 1999|access-date=March 20, 2020 |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321064900/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-22-mn-19738-story.html }}</ref>

[[Martin Scorsese]] directed a film documentary, ''[[A Letter to Elia]]'' (2010), considered to be an "intensely personal and deeply moving tribute"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cdsporch.org/archives/3767 |title=Full Frame Benefit Screening of Martin Scorsese's 'A Letter to Elia' |work=CDS Porch |publisher=Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University |date=November 16, 2010 |access-date=March 6, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201201618/http://www.cdsporch.org/archives/3767 |archive-date=February 1, 2019}}</ref> to Kazan. Scorsese was "captivated" by Kazan's films as a young man, and the documentary mirrors his own life story while he also credits Kazan as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker.<ref name="abcnews.go.com"/><ref name="A Letter to Elia"/> It won a [[Peabody Award]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/american-masters-elia-kazan-a-letter-to-elia |title=American Masters: Elia Kazan: A Letter to Elia |work=Peabody Awards |date=May 2011}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=America America | year=1962 | location=New York | publisher=Popular Library | oclc=21378773| title-link=America America (book) }}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=The Arrangement: A Novel | year=1967 | location=New York | publisher=Stein and Day | oclc=36500300| title-link=The Arrangement: A Novel }}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=The Assassins | year=1972 | location=London | publisher=Collins | isbn=0-00-221035-5}}
* {{cite book | last=Ciment | first=Michel | title=Kazan on Kazan | publisher=Viking | year=1974 }} Originally published in 1973 by Secker and Warburg, London.
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=The Understudy | year=1975 | location=New York | publisher=Stein and Day | oclc=9666336}}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=A Kazan Reader | year=1977 | location=New York | publisher=Stein and Day | isbn=0-8128-2193-9 }}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=Acts of Love | year=1978 | location=New York | publisher=Warner | isbn=0-446-85553-7}}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=The Anatolian | year=1982 | location=New York | publisher=Knopf | isbn=0-394-52560-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/anatolian00kaza }}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=Elia Kazan: A Life | publisher=Knopf | year=1988 | location=New York | isbn=0-394-55953-3 | url=https://archive.org/details/eliakazanlife00kaza_0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=Beyond the Aegean | year=1994 | location=New York | publisher=Knopf | isbn=0-679-42565-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/beyondaegean00kaza }}
* {{cite book | last1=Kazan |first1=Elia | last2=Young | first2=Jeff | title=The Master Director Discusses His Films | publisher=Newmarket Press | year=1999 | location=New York | isbn=1-55704-338-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/kazanmasterdirec00kaza }}
* {{cite book | last=Schickel | first=Richard | title=Elia Kazan | year=2005 | location=New York | publisher=Harper Collins | isbn=978-0-06-019579-3}}
* {{cite book | last=Kazan |first=Elia | title=Kazan on Directing | year=2009 | location=New York | publisher=Knopf | isbn=978-0-307-26477-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/kazanondirecting00kaza }}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | author=Jones, David Richard | title=Great directors at work: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Kazan, Brook | year=1986 | location= Berkeley; London | publisher=University of California Press | isbn=0-520-04601-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Kazan |first=Elia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7wKgsVUDUYC |title=Elia Kazan: A Life |publisher= Da Capo Press |year=1997|isbn=978-0-30795934-8}}
* {{cite book | author=Murphy, Brenda | title=Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan: a collaboration in the theatre | year=2006 | location= Cambridge| publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-03524-4 | edition=paperback}}
* {{cite book | author=Schickel, Richard| title=Elia Kazan: A Biography | publisher=Harper Collins | year=2005 | location=New York | isbn=0-06-019579-7}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q72717|c=Category:Elia Kazan|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{AFI person | 46252-Elia-Kazan }}
* {{IBDB name|15277}}
* {{IMDb name|1415}}
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/books/assessing-kazan-his-life-and-choice.html Assessing Kazan: His Life and Choice] ([[Janet Maslin]]'s ''NY Times'' review of the [[Richard Schickel]] biography of Kazan)
* [https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/3959/elia-kazan Elia Kazan (1909-2003)] (Overview of books by and about Kazan)
* [https://www.spartacus-educational.com/USAkazan.htm Elia Kazan] (''[[Spartacus Educational]]'' article on Kazan and the aftermath of his HUAC testimony, including his April 1952 ''NY Times'' ad)

{{Elia Kazan|state=expanded}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Elia Kazan
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Director}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardFeatureFilm 1948-1959}}
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardLifetimeFilm}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Director}}
{{Honorary Golden Bear}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 1980s}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Director}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director}}
{{TonyAward Director}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazan, Elia}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
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[[Category:American theatre directors]]
[[Category:American writers of Greek descent]]
[[Category:Best Directing Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners]]
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[[Category:Cappadocian Greeks]]
[[Category:Directors Guild of America Award winners]]
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[[Category:Kazan family|Elia]]
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[[Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)]]
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[[Category:Williams College alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from New Rochelle, New York]]
[[Category:David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni]]
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[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Picture Academy Award winners]]
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