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).