Kazan, Elia (1909-2003)

Turkish-born US stage and film director. Among the plays he directed are The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). He became a film director in 1944, and won Academy Awards for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954).

Kazan worked with the Group Theatre and acted on the stage 1935-41. He made his screen debut acting in Blues in the Night (1941). Films he directed include A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Boomerang! (1947), Pinky (1949), Panic in the Streets (1950), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), East of Eden (1955), Baby Doll (1956), and Splendor in the Grass (1961).