Coordinates	9°56′00″N61°34′00″N
name	Elia Kazan
birth name	Elias Kazanjoglou (Greek: Ἠλίας Καζαντζόγλου)
birth date	September 07, 1909
birth place	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
death date	September 28, 2003
death place	New York City, New York, USA
influenced	Martin Scorsese, John Cassavetes, Francis Ford Coppola
years active	1934–76
occupation	Director, actor, producer, screenwriter and novelist
spouse	Molly Day Thacher (1932–63; her death)Barbara Loden (1967–80; her death)Frances Rudge (1982–2003; his death)) }}

Elia Kazan (; 1909–2003) was an American director and actor, described by the ''New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated to New York when he was four. After two years studying acting at Yale, he acted professionally for eight years before becoming a stage and film director. Kazan co-founded the Group Theater in 1932 and the Actors Studio in 1947. With Lee Strasberg, he introduced Method acting to the American stage and cinema as a new form of self-expression and psychological "realism". Having been an actor himself, he brought sensitivity and understanding of the acting process and was later considered the ideal "actor's director". Kazan acted in only a few films, including City for Conquest (1940) alongside James Cagney. He also produced movies and wrote screenplays and novels.

Kazan introduced a new generation of unknown young actors to the movie audiences, including Marlon Brando and James Dean. Most noted for drawing out the best dramatic performances from his actors, he directed 21 actors to Oscar nominations, resulting in nine wins. He became "one of the consummate filmmakers of the 20th century", after directing a continual string of successful films, including, ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951), ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), and ''East of Eden'' (1955). During his career, he won two Oscars as Best Director and received an Honorary Oscar, won three Tony Awards, and four Golden Globes. Among the other new actors he introduced to movie audiences were Warren Beatty, Carroll Baker, Julie Harris, Andy Griffith, Lee Remick, Rip Torn, Eli Wallach, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Balsam, Fred Gwynne, and Pat Hingle. He also elicited some of the best performances in the careers of actors like Natalie Wood and James Dunn. Producer George Stevens, Jr., concludes that Kazan's films and new actors have "changed American moviemaking".

Most of 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. In some way the channel of the film should also be in my own life." His first such "issue" film was ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), with Gregory Peck, which dealt with subtle anti-Semitism in America. It received 8 Oscar nominations and 3 wins, including Kazan's first for Best Director. It was followed by ''Pinky'', one of the first films to address racial prejudice against Blacks. In 1954, he directed ''On the Waterfront'', a film about union corruption in New York, which some consider "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema." A major film earlier in his career was ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951), an adaptation of the stage play, which he had also directed. It received 12 Oscar nominations, winning 4, and was Marlon Brando's breakthrough role. In 1955, he directed John Steinbeck's ''East of Eden'', which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, making him an overnight star.

A turning point in Kazan's career came with his testimony as a "friendly witness" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, which cost him the respect of many liberal friends and colleagues, such as playwright Arthur Miller. Kazan later explains that he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong". Overall, Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and '60s by his run of provocative, issue-driven subjects, and acting. Moreover, his personal brand of cinema—employing real locations over sets, unknowns over stars, and realism over convenient genres—proved influential to a whole generation of independent filmmakers in the 1960s. Among those he influenced were Sidney Lumet, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick, who, in 1957, said that Kazan was "without question, the best director we have in America, [and] capable of performing miracles with the actors he uses."

Film author Ian Freer concludes that "If his achievements are tainted by political controversy, the debt Hollywood—and actors everywhere—owes him is enormous." In 2010, Martin Scorsese co-directed the documentary film, ''A Letter to Elia'', as a personal tribute to Kazan, whom he credits as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker.

Early life

Elia Kazan was born in the Phanar district of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia. His parents, George and Athena Kazanjoglou, (née Shishmanoglou,) emigrated to the United States when he was four years old. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Elia Kazanjoglou. His maternal grandfather was Isaak Shishmanoglou. He had a brother, Avraam Kazan, who was born in Berlin, and later became a psychiatrist.

As a young boy, he was remembered as being shy, and his college classmates described him as more of a loner. Much of his early life was portrayed in his autobiographical book, ''America America'', which he made into a film in 1963. In it, he describes his family as "alienated" from both their parents' Greek Orthodox values and from those of mainstream America. His mother's family were cotton merchants who imported cotton from England, and sold it wholesale. His father became a rug merchant after emigrating to the United States, and expected that his son would go into the family business.

After attending public schools in New York, he enrolled at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he helped pay his way by waiting tables and washing dishes, although 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."

Kazan discusses his family's Turkish and staunchly Greek ethnic/cultural background with film critic Michel Ciment: :''The Anatolian Greeks are a completely terrorised people. My father's family comes from the interior of Asia Minor, from a city called Kayseri, and they never forgot they were part of a minority. They were surrounded with periodic slaughters – or riots: the Turks would suddenly have a crisis and massacre a lot of Armenians, or they'd run wild and kill a lot of Greeks. The Greeks stayed in their houses. The fronts of the houses were almost barricaded, the windows shut with wooden shutters. One of the first memories I have is of sleeping in my grandmother's bed and my grandmother telling me stories about the massacre of the Armenians, and how she and my grandfather hid Armenians in the cellar of their home.''

;''America America'' In his book and later film by the same title, America America, he tells how, and why, his family left Turkey and moved to America. Kazan notes 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 Constantinople ... 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."

Kazan notes some of the controversial aspects of what he put in the film. He writes, "I used to say to myself when I was making the film that America was a dream of total freedom in all areas." 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:

:''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.''

Before undertaking the film, 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, however: "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.''

Kazan writes of the movie, "It's my favorite of all the films I've made; the first film that was entirely mine."

Stage career

Group Theater

In 1932, after spending two years at the Yale University School of Drama, he moved to New York to become a professional stage actor. His first opportunity came with a small group of actors engaged in presenting plays containing “social commentary”. They were called the Group Theater, which showcased many lesser known plays of 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 Theater, and more loosely in the radical social and cultural movements of the time," writes film author Joanna E. Rapf.

In Kazan's 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. Kazan, during an interview with Michel Ciment, describes the Group: :'' 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... At the end of the summer they said to me: "You may have talent for something, but it's certainly not acting."

Kazan, in his autobiography, also describes Strasberg as a vital leader of the group:

:''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.''

Kazan's first national success came as New York theatrical director. 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 describe him as the "proletarian thunderbolt."

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. Other critics have likewise noted his "strong commitment to the social and social psychological – rather than the purely political – implications of drama".

By the mid-1930s, when he was 26, he began directing a number of the Group Theater's plays. In 1942 he achieved his first notable success by directing a Pulitzer prize-winning play by Thornton Wilder, ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', starring Montgomery Clift and Tallulah Bankhead. He then went on to direct stage productions of ''All My Sons'' and ''Death of a Salesman,'' both written by Arthur Miller, and then directed ''Streetcar Named Desire'', written by Tennessee Williams. Kazan's wife, Molly Thacher, the reader for the Group, discovered Williams and awarded him a "prize that launched his career."

The Group Theater'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: Harry Morgan, John Garfield, Luise Rainer, Frances Farmer, Will Geer, Howard Da Silva, Clifford Odets, Lee J. Cobb and Irwin Shaw.

Actors Studio

In 1947, he founded the Actors Studio, a non-profit workshop, with actors Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford. It soon became famous for promoting "Method," a style of theater and acting involving "total immersion of actor into character," writes film author Ian Freer. According to Rapf, "the Studio rode the bandwagon of method fashionability, and Kazan was its clear star and attraction." Within a short time, as word spread, "everyone wanted to be at the Studio – not least because of the chance of being in a Kazan production in one medium or another."

Among its first students were Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris, Eli Wallach, Karl Malden, Patricia Neal, Mildred Dunnock, James Whitmore, and Maureen Stapleton. In 1951, Lee Strasberg became its director, and it remained a non-profit enterprise, eventually considered "the nation's most prestigious acting school," according to film historian James Lipton.

Student James Dean, in a letter home to his parents, writes that Actors Studio was "the greatest school of the theater [and] the best thing that can happen to an actor". Playwright Tennessee Williams said of its actors: "They act from the inside out. They communicate emotions they really feel. They give you a sense of life." Contemporary directors like Sidney Lumet, a former student, have intentionally used actors such as Al Pacino, a former student skilled in "Method".

Kazan directed one of the Studio's brightest young talents, Marlon Brando, in the Tennessee Williams play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. He cast him again in the film version in 1951, which made Brando a star and won 4 Oscars, and was nominated for 12.

Among the other Broadway plays he directed were "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Sweet Bird of Youth", "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" and "Tea and Sympathy", This led some, such as theater critic Eric Bentley, to write that "the work of Elia Kazan means more to the American theater than that of any current writer." Film critic David Richard Jones adds that Kazan, during the 1940s and 1950s, was one of America's foremost Stanislavskians, and "influenced thousands of contemporaries" in the theatre, film, and the Actors Studio that he helped found.

Film career

thumb|Directing ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950)At the height of his stage success, Kazan then turned to Hollywood where he soon demonstrated equal skill as director of motion pictures. He first directed two short films, but his first feature film was ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' (1945), one his first attempts to film dramas focused on contemporary concerns, which became his forte. Two years later he directed ''Gentleman's Agreement'', where he tackled a seldom-discussed topic in America, antisemitism, for which he won his first Oscar as Best Director. In 1949 he again dealt with controversial subject when he directed ''Pinky'', which dealt with issues of racism in America, and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards.

In 1947, he directed the courtroom drama ''Boomerang!'', and in 1950 he directed ''Panic in the Streets'', starring Richard Widmark, in a thriller shot on the streets of New Orleans. In the that film, Kazan experimented with a documentary style of cinematography, which succeeded in "energizing" the action scenes. 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: :''Each director has a favorite in his cast, ... my favorite this time was Zero Mostel... I thought him an exraordinary 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.''

Marlon Brando

In 1951, after introducing and directing one of the Actors Studio's brightest young talents, Marlon Brando, in the stage version, he went on to cast him in film version of the play, ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', which made Brando a star and won 4 Oscars, being nominated for 12. The film popularized Method acting with Brando's role as the earthy and unmannered Stanley Kowalski opposite the classical dignity of British actress, Vivien Leigh, as his sister-in-law. Despite the plaudits, the film was considered a step back cinematically with the feel of filmed theater, however Kazan did at first use a more open setting but then felt compelled to revert to the stage atmosphere to remain true to the script. He explains: :''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."

Brando's role as a virtually unknown actor at age 27, would "catapult him to stardom." His next film was ''Viva Zapata!'' (1952) which also starred Marlon Brando playing the role of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. 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.

In 1954 he again used Brando as co-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 longshoreman’s union. It too was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, but won 8, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, for Marlon Brando. To some critics, Brando gives the "best performance in American film history," playing an ex-boxer, Terry Malloy, who is persuaded by a priest to inform on corrupt unions. Surprisingly, Brando writes that he was actually disappointed with his acting upon first watching the screening:

:''On the day Gadg showed me the completed picture, I was so depressed by my performance I got up and left the screening room. I thought I was a huge failure. I was simply embarrassed for myself. ... I am indebted to him for all that I learned. He was a wonderful teacher.''

;Eva Marie Saint

The film was also the screen debut for Eva Marie Saint, who won the Oscar for 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: :''I ended up crying. Crying and laughing ... I mean there was such an attraction there ... That smile of his... He was very tender and funny ... And Kazan, in his genius, saw the chemistry there.''

The film made use of extensive on-location street scenes and waterfront shots, and included a notable score by composer Leonard Bernstein. British film critic Ian Freer notes that despite Kazan naming Communist party members to the House Committee on Un-American Activities two years earlier, "the film is ambivalent about the act of informing."

Karl Malden

Actor Karl Malden became an early student at the Group Theater in 1937, where he first began acting under Kazan's direction. Kazan would play a "prominent role in Malden's stage and film career", including convincing him to change his name from Mladen Sekulovich. He played a drunken sailor in Kazan's "Truckline Cafe," which also included a young Marlon Brando. In 1947, he co-starred in the stage play "All My Sons," written by Arthur Miller, with Kazan directing, and began being recognized as a serious actor.

However, his first major stage success was his role as an awkward suitor of Jessica Tandy in "A Streetcar Named Desire," which also helped make Brando a star on stage. After two years in the role, he played the same part in the 1951 film version, this time playing opposite Vivian Leigh, where he won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Kazan next directed him in ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), where he was also nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a sympathetic priest. In 1956, Kazan directed him in a starring role in ''Baby Doll'', alongside Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach, a controversial story written by Tennessee Williams, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Malden remained friends with Kazan despite his unpopular appearance at the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. Many mutual "friends who turned on Kazan also refused to speak to Malden." He furthered his support in 1999, when, as a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he proposed that they give Kazan an honorary Oscar for "lifetime achievement". Malden's proposal was bold, as film festivals, critics associations, and the American Film Institute, had already refused to bestow similar honors because of Kazan's testimony given nearly 50 years earlier. Malden recalled giving his proposal:

:''When I got up to talk, I suspected that there would be big fight, but no one debated it at all... I said that I'm nominating a dear friend, and as far as I'm concerned, there's no place for politics in any art form. An award like this is about your body of work, and when it comes to a body of work, Elia Kazan deserves to be honored.''

According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', when Malden finished speaking, "he was greeted by a rousing burst of applause."

James Dean

After the success of ''On the Waterfront'' he went on to direct the screen adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, ''East of Eden'' in 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. 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'', (dir. George Stevens, 1956)

Author Douglas Rathgeb describes 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." As a result, Kazan was forced to "baby-sit the young actor in side-by-side trailers," so he wouldn't run away during production. Co-star 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 himself 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 didn't seem possible 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."

The film also made good use of on-location and outdoor scenes, along with an 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 outside of Los Angeles. He had only made three films, and the only completed film he ever saw was ''East of Eden''.

Warren Beatty

In 1961, he 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." Biskind notes also that they "were wildly dissimilar—mentor vs. protege, 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." Kazan recalls his impressions of Beatty:

:''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.''

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 HUAC. He snapped, 'Lemme ask you something — why did you name all those names?'"

Beatty himself recalled the episode: "In some patricidal attempt to stand up to the great Kazan, I arrogantly and stupidly challenged him on it." Biskind describes how "Kazan grabbed his arm, asking, 'What did you say?' and dragged him off to a tiny dressing room ... whereupon the director proceeded to justify himself for two hours." 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."

Natalie Wood

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'': "She was transformed, in awe of Kazan and of Vivien Leigh's performance... [who] became a role model for Natalie." In 1961, after a "series of bad films, her career was already in decline," notes Rathgeb. Kazan himself 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:

:''When I saw her, I detected behind the well-mannered 'young wife' front a desperate twinkle in her eyes... 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... Then she told me she was being psychoanalyzed. That did it. Poor R.J., I said to myself. I liked Bob Wagner, I still do.''

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.''" She adds that a scene in the film, as a result of "Kazan's wizardry ... produced a hysteria in Natalie that may be her most powerful moment as an actress."

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). "It's terribly touching to me. I still like it when I see it," writes Kazan.

Screenwriters

Another aspect that contributed to the power and intensity of his films was his close collaboration with writers. 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." 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.

Williams became one of Kazan's closest and most loyal friends, and Kazan often pulled Williams out of "creative slumps" by redirecing 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.”

Among Kazan's other films were ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950), (1955), ''Baby Doll'' (1956), ''Wild River'' (1960), and ''The Last Tycoon'' (1976). In between his directing work he wrote four best-selling novels, including ''America, America'', and ''The Arrangement'', in both of which he tells the story of his Greek immigrant ancestors. They were later made into films.

Directing style

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." He also felt that casting the right actors accounted for 90% of a movie's ultimate success or failure. As a result of his efforts, he also gave actors such as Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Warren Beatty, 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... they're not pliable anymore." Kazan also describes how and why he gets to know his actors on a personal level:

:''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.''

Kazan goes on to describe how he got to understand James Dean, as an example:

:''When I met him he said, "I'll take you for a ride on my motorbike... It was his way of communicating with me, saying "I hope you like me," ... 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 ... I went to 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."''

Topics of personal and social realism

Kazan chooses his subjects to express personal and social events that he is familiar with. He describes his thought process before taking on a project:

:''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" ... it's really the story of my father and me, and I didn't realize it for a long time... 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 experientally, 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.''

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." Kazan himself states that "unless the character is somewhere in the actor himself, you shouldn't cast him."

In his later years he changed his mind about some of the philosophy behind the Group Theater, in that he no longer felt that the theater was a "collective art," as he once believed:

:''To be successful it should express the vision, the conviction, and the insistent presence of one person."

Film author Peter Biskind described Kazan's career as "fully committed to art and politics, with the politics feeding the work." Kazan, however, has downplayed that impression:

:''I don't think basically I'm a political animal. I think I'm a self-centered animal... I think what I was concerned about all my life was to say something artistically that was uniquely my own.''

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." Another political film was ''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."

Use of "Method" acting

As a product of the Group Theater and Actors Studio, he was most noted for his use of "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... The director is a ''desperate beast!'' ... You don't deal with actors as dolls. You deal with them as people who are poets to a certain degree." Actor Robert De Niro called him a "master of a new kind of psychological and behavioral faith in acting."

Kazan was aware of the limited range of his directing abilities: :''I don't have great range. I am no good with music or spectacles. The classics are beyond me... I am a mediocre director except when a play or film touches a part of my life's experience... I do have courage, even some daring. I am able to talk to actors... to arouse them to better work. I have strong, even violent feelings, and they are assets."

He explains that he tries to inspire his actors to offer ideas:

:''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... I love actors. I used to be an actor for eight years, so I do appreciate their job.''

Kazan, however, 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 ... 'No.'" Kazan replies, "Good idea, play it that way." Kazan, many years later, explained his rationale for scenes in that film:

:''What is erotic about sex to me is the seduction, not the act... The scene on the swings (Eli Wallach and Carroll Baker) in ''Baby Doll'' is my exact idea of what eroticism in films should be.''

Being an "actor's director"

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." Film historian Foster Hirsch explains that "he created virtually a new acting style, which was the style of the Method... [that] allowed for the actors to create great depth of psychological realism."

Among the actors who describe Kazan as an important influence in their career were Patricia Neal, who co-starred with Andy Griffith in ''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." Anthony Franciosa, a supporting actor in the film, explains how Kazan encouraged his actors:

:''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... He never made me feel as though I was acting for the camera. Many times, I never even knew where the camera was.''

However, in order to get quality acting from Andy Griffith, in his first screen appearance, and achieve what Schickel calls "an astonishing movie debut," 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."

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." "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."

Kazan's need to remain close to his actors continued up to his last film, ''The Last Tycoon'' (1976). He remembers that Robert De 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 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."

The powerful dramatic roles Kazan brought out from many of his actors was due, partly, to his ability to recognize their personal character traits. Although he didn't know De Niro before this film, for example, Kazan later writes, "Bobby is more meticulous ... 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." Kazan developed and used those personality traits for his character in the film. Although the film did poorly at the box office, some reviewers praised De Niro's acting. Film critic Marie Brenner writes that "for De Niro, it is a role that surpasses even his brilliant and daring portrayal of Vito Corleone in ''The Godfather, part II'', ... [his] performance deserves to be compared with the very finest."

Marlon Brando, in his autobiography, goes into detail about the influence Kazan had on his acting: :''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... the only one who ever really stimulated me, got into a part with me and virtually acted it with me... he chose good actors, encouraged them to improvise, and then improvised on the improvisation... He gave his cast freedom and ... was always emotionally involved in the process and his instincts were perfect... I've never seen a director who became as deeply and emotionally involved in a scene as Gadg... 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.''

HUAC testimony

Kazan remained controversial in some circles until his death for testimony he gave before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1952, a period that many, such as journalist Michael Mills, feel was "the most controversial period in Hollywood history." When he was in his mid 20s, during the "Depression" years 1934 to 1936, he had been a member of the American Communist Party in New York, for a year and a half.

In April 1952, the Committee 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 Theater members who he said had been Communists: Clifford Odets, J. Edward Bromberg, Lewis Leverett, Morris Carnovsky, Phoebe Brand, Tony Kraber, Ted Wellman, and Paula Miller, who later married Lee Strasberg. He testified that Odets quit the party at the same time that he did. All the persons named were already known to HUAC, however. The move cost Kazan many friends within the film industry, including playwright Arthur Miller.

Kazan would later write in his autobiography of the "warrior pleasure at withstanding his 'enemies.' When Kazan received an Honorary Academy Award in 1999, the audience was noticeably divided in their reaction, with some including Nick Nolte, refusing to applaud, and many others, such as actor Warren Beatty and producer George Stevens, Jr. standing and applauding. Stevens speculates on why he, Beatty, and many others in the audience chose to stand and applaud:

:''I never discussed it with Warren, but I believe we were both standing for 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.''

''Los Angeles Times'' film critic Kenneth Turan, agreed, writing "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 Chaplin finally had his hour."

In later interviews, Kazan explained some of the early events that made him decide to become a friendly witness, most notably in relation to the Group Theater, which he called his first "family," and the "best thing professionally" that ever happened to him:

:''The Group Theatre said that we shouldn't be committed to any fixed political program set by other people outside the organisation. 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 organisation. I said it was an artistic organisation, 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 stigmatised 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.

Mills notes that prior to becoming a "friendly witness," Kazan discussed the issues with Miller: :''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.''

Miller put his arm around Kazan and retorted, "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."

In his memoirs, Kazan writes that his testimony meant that "the big shot had become the outsider." He also notes 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."

Personal life

Elia Kazan was married three times. His first wife was playwright Molly Day Thacher. They were married from 1932 until her death in 1963; this marriage produced two daughters and two sons. His second marriage, to the actress Barbara Loden, lasted from 1969 until her death in 1980, and produced one son. Lastly, he was married to Frances Rudge from 1982 until his death in 2003, aged 94.

In 1978, the U.S. government paid for Kazan and his family to travel to Kazan's 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:

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

Legacy

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, such as Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden, James Dean, Julie Harris, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach and Natalie Wood. Under his direction, his actors received 21 Academy Award nominations and won nine Oscars. He won as Best Director for ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and for ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), which is considered "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema." Both ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951) and ''On the Waterfront'' were nominated for twelve Academy Awards, respectively winning four and eight.

Kazan never lost his identification with the oppressed people he remembered from the depths of the Great Depression. With his many years with the Group Theater and Actors Studio in New York City and later triumphs on Broadway, he became famous "for the power and intensity of his actors' performances." He was the pivotal figure in launching the film careers of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Julie Harris, 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."

Upon his death, at the age of 94, the ''New York Times'' described him as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history." His stage direction of ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is considered a "high point of world theater" in the 20th century. Although he became a "legendary director on Broadway", he made an equally impressive transition into one of the major filmmakers 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". 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.

His controversial stand during his testimony in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, became the low point in his career, although he remained convinced that he made the right decision to give the names of Communist Party members. He stated in an interview in 1976:

:''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.

During his career, Kazan won both Tony and Oscar Awards for excellence on stage and screen. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the Kennedy Center honors award, a national tribute for life achievement in the arts. At the ceremony, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who wrote ''On the Waterfront'', thanks 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.” In an interview with the American Film Institute in 1976, Kazan spoke of his love of the cinema: "I think it's the most wonderful art in the world."

In 1999, when he was 90 years old, Kazan received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. During the ceremony, he was accompanied by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Many in Hollywood felt that enough time had passed that it was appropriate to finally recognize Kazan's great artistic accomplishments, although others did not and would not applaud. Kazan appreciated the award:

:''I want to thank the Academy for its courage, its generosity. Thank you all very much. Now I can just slip away.''

In his autobiography, ''A Life'', he sums up the influence of filmmaking on his life: :''I realize now that work was my drug. It held me together. It kept me high. When I wasn't working, I didn't know who I was or what I was supposed to do. This is general in the film world. You are so absorbed in making a film, you can't think of anything else. It's your identity, and when it's done you are nobody.''

Martin Scorsese has directed a film documentary, ''A Letter to Elia'' (2010), considered to be an "intensely personal and deeply moving tribute" 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.

Awards

;Academy Awards

1948: Best Director – ''Gentleman's Agreement''

1955: Best Director – ''On the Waterfront''

1999: Academy Honorary Award – Lifetime Achievement

;;Nominations

1964: Best Picture – ''America, America''

1964: Best Adapted Screenplay – ''America, America''

1964: Best Director – ''America, America''

1956: Best Director – ''East of Eden''

1952: Best Director – ''A Streetcar Named Desire''

;Tony Awards

1959: Best Direction – ''J.B.''

1949: Best Director – ''Death of a Salesman''

1947: Best Direction – ''All My Sons''

;;Nominations

1956: Best Director – ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof''

1958: Best Play – ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs ''

1958: Best Director – ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs''

1960: Best Direction of a Play – ''Sweet Bird of Youth''

1965: Best Producer of a Play – ''Tartuffe

;Berlin Film Festival Awards; ;;Nominations 1953: Golden Bear – ''Man on a Tightrope'' 1960: Golden Bear – ''Wild River''

;Cannes Film Festival Awards

1955: Best Dramatic Film – ''East of Eden'' (1955)

;;Nominations

1952: Grand Prize of the Festival – ''Viva Zapata!''

1955: Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) – ''East of Eden''

1972: Palme d'Or – ''The Visitors''

;Venice Film Festival Awards

1950: International Award – ''Panic in the Streets''

1951: Special Jury Prize – ''A Streetcar Named Desire''

1954: Italian Film Critics Award – ''On the Waterfront''

1954: Leone d’Argento (Silver Lion) – ''On the Waterfront''

1955: OCIC Award – ''On the Waterfront''

;;Nominations

1948: Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion) – ''Gentleman's Agreement''

1950: Leone d'Oro – ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950)

1951: Leone d'Oro – ''A Streetcar Named Desire''

1954: Leone d'Oro – ''On the Waterfront''

Filmography

''City for Conquest'' (as actor only) ''A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (film) ''The Sea of Grass (film) 1 8 ''Pinky (1949 film) ''Panic in the Streets (film) ''A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film) ''Viva Zapata!'' ''Man on a Tightrope'' ''On the Waterfront'' ''East of Eden (film) ''Baby Doll'' ''A Face in the Crowd (film) ''Wild River (film) ''Splendor in the Grass'' ''America, America'' ''The Arrangement (1969 film) ''The Visitors (1972 film) ''The Last Tycoon (film)

Year
1937	''People of the Cumberland''	|
1940	|			scenes
rowspan="2">1945	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' ||	2	1	scenes
''Watchtower Over Tomorrow''	|
rowspan="3"	1947	The Sea of Grass'' ||
''Boomerang (1947 film)	Boomerang!''	|
''Gentleman's Agreement''	|	3	trailer
1949	Pinky'' ||	3		trailer
1950	Panic in the Streets'' ||	1	1	scenes
1951	A Streetcar Named Desire'' ||	12	4	trailer
1952	|	5	1	trailer
1953	|		| scene ||
1954	|	12	8	trailer
1955	East of Eden'' ||	4	1	trailer
1956	|	4		trailer
1957	A Face in the Crowd'' ||			trailer
1960	Wild River'' ||			scene
1961	|	2	1	trailer
1963	|	4	1	scenes
1969	The Arrangement'' ||			trailer
1972	The Visitors'' ||				interview
1976	The Last Tycoon'' ||	1		scene

Bibliography

. Originally published 1973 by Secker and Warburg, London.

References

Further reading

External links

Videos

“The Life, Works, and Impact of Elia Kazan” video, 10 minutes

Receiving an Honorary Oscar video, 3 minutes

Kazan acting in rare clips from "City for Conquest" video, 9 minutes

Elia Kazan discussing ‘’On the Waterfront’’ video, 10 minutes

Christopher Plummer – Working with Elia Kazan video, 5 minutes

Articles

Method Man: Elia Kazan's Singular Career by John Lahr in The New Yorker (A Critic at Large)

Assessing Kazan: His Life and Choice (NYT Books of the Times)

Some notes on Kazan, HUAC, and the aftermath of his testimony including his April 13, 1952 statement in the New York Times

Literature on Elia Kazan

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1909 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from Kayseri Category:American film directors Category:American theatre directors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:American people of Greek descent Category:Ottoman emigrants to the United States Category:Cappadocian Greeks Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Tony Award winners Category:Williams College alumni Category:Yale School of Drama alumni Category:American film actors Category:American screenwriters Category:American film producers Category:Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Academy Award winners

ar:إيليا كازان bn:এলিয়া কাজান bg:Елия Казан ca:Elia Kazan cs:Elia Kazan cy:Elia Kazan da:Elia Kazan de:Elia Kazan el:Ελία Καζάν es:Elia Kazan eo:Elia Kazan eu:Elia Kazan fa:الیا کازان fr:Elia Kazan ko:엘리아 카잔 hr:Elia Kazan id:Elia Kazan it:Elia Kazan he:איליה קאזאן ka:ელია კაზანი la:Elias Kazan hu:Elia Kazan ml:ഏലിയാ കസാൻ nl:Elia Kazan ja:エリア・カザン no:Elia Kazan pl:Elia Kazan pt:Elia Kazan ro:Elia Kazan ru:Элиа Казан sc:Elia Kazan sq:Elia Kazan ckb:ئیلیا کازان sr:Елија Казан fi:Elia Kazan sv:Elia Kazan tr:Elia Kazan uk:Еліа Казан ur:ایلیا کازان zh:伊利亚·卡赞

Coordinates	9°56′00″N61°34′00″N
En name	Kazan
Ru name	Казань
Loc name1	Казан, Qazan
Loc lang1	Tatar
Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
Map label position	right
Holiday	August 30
Holiday ref
Federal subject	Republic of Tatarstan
Federal subject ref
Capital of	Republic of Tatarstan
Capital of ref
Inhabloc cat	City
Inhabloc cat ref
Inhabloc type	City of republic significance
Inhabloc type ref
Urban okrug jur	Kazan Urban Okrug
Leader title	Mayor
Leader title ref
Leader name	Ilsur Metshin
Leader name ref
Representative body	City Duma
Representative body ref
Area km2	425.3
Area km2 ref
Pop 2010census	1143600
Pop 2010census rank	8th
Pop 2010census ref
Pop 2002census	1105289
Pop 2002census rank	8th
Pop 2002census ref
Established date	~1005
Established date ref
Postal codes	420xxx
Postal codes ref
Dialing codes	843
Dialing codes ref
Website	http://www.kzn.ru/
Date	April 2010 }}

Kazan (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,600 (2010 Census preliminary results), it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the right to brand itself as the "Third Capital" of Russia. In 2009 it was chosen as the "sports capital of Russia". The Kazan Kremlin is a World Heritage Site.

History

Etymology

The origin of the name Kazan is uncertain. The most accepted legends derive it from the Bulgarian (and also modern Tatar) word ''qazan'', which means 'boiler' or 'cauldron'.

Middle Ages

There is a long-running dispute as to whether Kazan was founded by the Volga Bulgars in the early Middle Ages or by the Tatars of the Golden Horde in the mid-15th century, as written records before the latter period are sparse. If there was a Bulgar city on the site, estimates of the date of its foundation range from the early 11th century to the late 13th century (see Iske Qazan). It was a border post between Volga Bulgaria and two Finnic tribes, the (Mari and the Udmurt). Another vexatious question is where the citadel was built originally. Archaeological explorations have produced evidence of urban settlement in three parts of the modern city: in the Kremlin; in Bişbalta at the site of the modern Zilantaw monastery; and near the Qaban lake. The oldest of these seems to be the Kremlin.

If Kazan existed in the 11th and 12th centuries, it could have been a stop on a Volga trade route from Scandinavia to Iran. It was a trade center, and possibly a major city for Bulgar settlers in the Kazan region, although their capital was further south at the city of Bolğar.

After the Mongols devastated the Bolğar and Bilär areas in the 13th century, migrants resettled Kazan. Kazan became a center of a duchy which was a dependency of the Golden Horde. Two centuries later, in the 1430s, Hordian Tatars (such as Ghiasetdin of Kazan) usurped power from its Bolghar dynasty.

Some Tatars also went to Lithuania, brought by Vytautas the Great.

In 1438, after the destruction of the Golden Horde, Kazan became the capital of the powerful Khanate of Kazan. The city bazaar, ''Taş Ayaq'' (''Stone Leg'')' became the most important trade center in the region, especially for furniture. The citadel and Bolaq channel were reconstructed, giving the city a strong defensive capacity. The Russians managed to occupy the city briefly several times.

Russian Tsardom times

As a result of the Siege of Kazan (1552) Russia under Ivan the Terrible conquered the city for good and the majority of the population was massacred. During the governorship of Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky, most of the khanates's Tatar residents were killed or forcibly Christianized. Mosques and palaces were ruined. The surviving Tatar population was moved to a place away from the city and this place was forcibly settled by Russian farmers and soldiers. Tatars in the Russian service were settled in the Tatar Bistäse settlement near the city's wall. Later Tatar merchants and handicraft masters also settled there. During this period, Kazan was largely destroyed as a result of several great fires. After one of them in 1579, the icon ''Our Lady of Kazan'' was discovered in the city. In the early 17th century, at the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia, the Tsardom of Kazan declared independence with the help of the Russian population, but this independence was suppressed by Kuzma Minin in 1612.

Russian Empire times

In 1708, the Tsardom of Kazan was abolished, and Kazan became the center of a ''guberniya''. After Peter the Great's visit, the city became a center of shipbuilding for the Caspian fleet. The major Russian poet Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin was born in Kazan in 1743, the son of a poor country squire of Tatar ancestry though himself having a thoroughly Russian identity. Kazan was largely destroyed in 1774 as a result of the Pugachev revolt, a revolt by border troops and peasants led by the Don Cossack ataman (captain) Yemelyan Pugachev, but was rebuilt soon afterwards, during the reign of Catherine the Great. Catherine also decreed that mosques could again be built in Kazan, the first being Marjani Mosque. In the beginning of the 19th century Kazan State University and printing press were founded by Alexander I. It became an important center for Oriental Studies in Russia. The Qur'an was first printed in Kazan in 1801. Kazan became an industrial center and peasants migrated there to join its industrial workforce. In 1875, a horse tramway appeared; 1899 saw the installation of a tramway. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, Tatars were allowed to revive Kazan as a Tatar cultural center. The first Tatar theater and the first Tatar newspaper appeared.

Soviet period

In 1917 Kazan became one of the revolution centers. In 1918, Kazan was a capital of the Idel-Ural State, which was suppressed by the Bolshevist government. In the Kazan Operation of August 1918, it was briefly occupied by Czechoslovak Legions. In 1920 (after the October Revolution), Kazan became the center of Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1920s and 1930s, most of the city's mosques and churches were destroyed, as occurred elsewhere in the USSR. During World War II, many industrial plants and factories to the west were relocated in Kazan, making the city a center of the military industry, producing tanks and planes. After the war Kazan consolidated as an industrial and scientific center. In 1979, the city's population reached one million.

Modern times

In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the USSR, Kazan again became the center of Tatar culture, and separatist tendencies intensified. With the return of the capitalism era Kazan became one the most important centers of the Russian Federation. The city came up from 10th to 6th position in population ranking of Russian cities. In the late 2000s the city earnt the right to host both the 2013 Summer Universiade and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Millennium of Kazan

Since 2000, the city has been undergoing a total renovation. The historical center, including its Kremlin, has been rebuilt. Kazan celebrated its millennium in 2005, after a city-organised historical commission settled on 1005 as the official year of the city's founding. During the millennium celebrations, one of the largest mosque in Russia, Qolsharif, was dedicated in the Kazan Kremlin, the holiest copy of Our Lady of Kazan was returned to the city, the "Millennium Bridge" was inaugurated that year, and Kazan Metro began operation.

Demographics

[[File:Kazan church edit1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''All Religions Temple''. A building and cultural center built by the local artist Ildar Khanov]]

Ethnicity and religion

The city's population consists almost entirely composed of either Russians (about 48.8 percent) or Tatars (about 47.5 percent). The remainder consists of Chuvash, Ukrainians, Azeri, and Jews. Major religions in Kazan city are Sunni Islam and Eastern Orthodoxy. Minor religions are Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Krishnaism, and the Bahá'í Faith.

Languages

Tatar and Russian languages are widely spoken in the city. Russian is understood by practically all the population, apart from some older Tatars. Tatar is widely spoken mainly by Tatars.

Population

Population:

!Year	!Population
1550	50,000
1557	7,000
1800	40,000
1830	43,900
1839	51,600
1859	60,600
1862	63,100
1883	140,000
1897	130,000
1917	206,600
1926	179,000
1939	398,000
1959	667,000
1979	989,000
1989	1,094,378 (census)
1997	1,076,000
2000	1,089,500
2002	1,105,289 (census)
2008	1,120,200
2009	1,130,717
2010	1,143,600 (census)

Climate

Kazan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfb'') with long cold winters and warm, often hot dry summers. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near , coldest - January .

Central Kazan

Kremlin

The city has a beautiful citadel (Russian: кремль, tr. kreml', or sometimes Tatar: ''kirman''), which was declared the World Heritage Site in 2000. Major monuments in the kremlin are the 5-domed 6-columned Annunciation Cathedral (1561–62) and the mysterious leaning ''Soyembika Tower'', named after the last queen of Kazan and regarded as the city's most conspicuous landmark.

Also of interest are the towers and walls, erected in the 16th and 17th centuries but later reconstructed; the ''Qol-Şarif mosque'', which is already rebuilt inside the citadel; remains of the Saviour Monastery (its splendid 16th-century cathedral having been demolished by the Bolsheviks) with the Spasskaya Tower; and the ''Governor's House'' (1843–53), designed by Konstantin Thon, now the Palace of the President of Tatarstan.

Next door, the ornate baroque Sts-Peter-and-Paul's Cathedral on Qawi Nacmi Street and Marcani mosque on Qayum Nasiri Street date back to the 18th century.

Bistä or Posad

Central Kazan is divided into two districts by the Bolaq canal and Lake Qaban. The first district (Qazan Bistäse or Kazanskiy Posad), historically Russian, is situated on the hill, the second (İske Tatar Bistäse or Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda), historically Tatar, is situated between the Bolaq and the Volga. Mosques, such as ''Nurullah'', ''Soltan'', ''Bornay'', ''Apanay'', ''Äcem'', ''Märcani'', ''İske Taş'', ''Zäñgär'' are in the Tatar district. Churches, such as ''Blagoveschenskaya'', ''Varvarinskaya'', ''Nikol'skaya'', ''Tikhvinskaya'', are mostly in the Russian part of the city. The main city-centre streets are ''Bauman'', ''Kremlyovskaya'', ''Dzerzhinsky'', ''Tuqay'', ''Puşkin'', ''Butlerov'', ''Gorkiy'', ''Karl Marx'' and ''Märcani''.

An old legend says that in 1552, before the Russian invasion, wealthy Tatars (''baylar'') hid gold and silver in Lake Qaban.

Wooden Kazan

In the beginning of 1990s most of Central Kazan was covered by wooden buildings, usually consisting of two floors. There was a historical environment of Kazan citizens, but not the best place to live in. During the Republican programme "The liquidation of ramshackle apartments" most of them (unlike other Russian cities), especially in Central Kazan, where the land is not cheap, were destroyed and their population was moved to new areas at the suburb of the city (Azino, Azino-2, Quartal 39). Nearly 100,000 citizens resettled by this programme.

Other major buildings

Another significant building in central Kazan is the former "Smolentzev and Shmelev" tea house and hotel, now the Shalyapin Palace Hotel. It is located at 7/80 Universitetskaya Street, at the corner of Universitetskaya and Bauman. A major landmark of late-19th and early-20th century commercial architecture, it consists of two portions. The original portion, built for a merchant named Usmanov in the 1860s, was bought by the inter-related families of Efim Smolentzev and Pavel and Nikolai Shmelev in 1899. They operated a store selling, among other things, tea. In 1910, the Smolentevs and Shmelevs constructed another portion, designed by architect Vasili Trifonov, and operated a hotel there. After the Russian Revolution, the building eventually became the Hotel Soviet and after 2000 it was heavily renovated to reopen as the Shalyapin Palace Hotel.

Cityscape

Education and science

Primary and secondary education

Primary and secondary education system of Kazan includes:

282 nurseries, most of which are municipal

178 schools, 2 of which are private

28 vocational technical schools

15 colleges

10 special colleges

There are also 49 music schools, 10 fine-arts schools and 43 sports schools.

Higher education

There are 44 institutes of higher education in Kazan, including 19 branches of universities from other cities. More than 140 000 students are educated in the city. Kazan Federal University (founded in 1804) is third oldest university in Russia after Saint Petersburg State University (1724) and Moscow State University (1755). In 2009 KFU got Federal status as main university of Volga Region. Some other prominent universities are:

Kazan State Technical University - founded in 1932. In 2009 it got status of National university;

Kazan State Medical University - founded in 1814 as a department within Kazan State University;

Kazan State Technological University - founded in 1919 on the base of pre-existing vocational school;

Kazan State Conservatory - founded in 1945;

Science

City is one of the biggest scientific centres of Russia. Kazan formed a big number of scientific areas and schools (mathematical, chemical, medical, linguistic, geological, geobotanical, etc.). It is subject of special pride: the creation of non-Euclidean geometry (Nikolai Lobachevsky), the discovery of the chemical element ruthenium (Claus), the theory about the structure of organic compounds (Aleksandr Butlerov), the discovery of the electron paramagnetic resonance (Yevgeny Zavoisky) and acoustic paramagnetic resonance (Altshuler) and many others. City hosts:

Kazan Science Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences, since 1945. It includes 5 academical institutions.

Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, since 1991. It includes 7 local departments with 13 academical institutions (also, 21 organisations are under the guidance of TAS) and one branch in Ulyanovsk.

Government and administration

Administrative division

Kazan is divided into seven districts:

!No.	!District	!Population	!Area (km²)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Mayor

Mayor is the head of the city. İlsur Metşin has been the mayor of Kazan since November 17, 2005

City Duma

Kazan City Duma is a representative body of the city, elected every four years.

Executive committee

Executive committee is a municipal body of the executive organs. Committee's head is Alexey Pesoshin.

Tatarstan government

Kazan hosts Tatarstan President's residence and administration (in Kremlin), Tatarstan's Cabinet of Ministers and Council of State (on Freedom square).

Economy

Kazan is one of the largest industrial and financial centres of Russia, and a leading city of the Volga economic region in construction and accumulated investment. City's Gross Regional Product had reached 306 bln roubles (~$10 bln) in 2010.

Total banking capital of Kazan banks is third in Russia. The main industries of the city are: mechanical engineering, chemical, petrochemical, light and food industries. An innovative economy is represented by the largest IT-park in Russia which is one of the largest of its kind amongst Eastern Europe science parks. Kazan ranks 174th (highest in Russia) in Mercer’s Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.

Transport

Kazan International Airport

Kazan International Airport is located 26 kilometers from the city centre. It is a hub for Tatarstan Airlines and Kazan Air Enterprise and hosts 11 air companies. Airport is connected with city by bus route #97. There is also the Kazan Borisoglebskoye airfield, home to Kazan Aircraft Production Association, a major aircraft factory.

Railways

Kazan is connected with Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Yoshkar-Ola and Yekaterinburg by railways.

Main railway station "Kazan passazhirsky" is located in the city centre and includes main building (built in 1896), commuter trains terminal, ticket office building and some other technical buildings. Station serves 36 intercity trains and more than 8 million passengers per annum.

There is a second terminal in the northern part of city, it serves only one intercity train. Reconstruction of the Northern terminal has been frozen.

Kazan city has also 19 platforms for commuter trains

Riverside station

Station serves intercity ships and commuter boats. Pneumocushion boats are used in winter time. Daily passenger turnover reaches 6 thousands.

Bus station

There are two bus stations in Kazan — Central and Southern. Bus routes connect Kazan with all districts of Tatarstan, Samara, Ufa, Tolyatti, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, Sterlitamak, Buzuluk, Baki and Aktobe. It is planned to build new stations in the East, West and North districts instead of Central for relieving city centre.

Highways

There are federal highway connections to Moscow and Ufa (E-22), Orenburg (R-239), Ul'yanovsk (R-241) and Igra (R-242). There are also R-175 federal highway and «Northern Europe — Western China» (in construction) route near the city.

There are five bridges across the Kazanka (Qazansu) river in the city, and one bridge connecting Kazan with the opposite bank of the Volga.

Public transit

A single-line Kazan Metro, the north-southeast Central Line, opened on 27 August 2005. The Kazan Metro has seven stations, but there are plans to extend the line in both directions and is due to cross the Kazanka river with the stations "Dekabristov", "Moskovskaya", "Aviastroitel`naya" in 2012. Single trip costs 13-15 rub.

The Kazan tram system was founded in 1899. 8 routes use of lines and 197 tramcars. Single trip costs 10-12 rub. Rolling stock: LM-99, 71-608, 71-605. The Kazan trolleybus system was founded in 1948. of lines are used for 14 routes. Single trip costs 13-15 rub. Vehicles: ZIU-682, Trolza-5275-05 "Optima", VMZ-5298.01-50 "Avangard".

The Kazan bus system was totally renovated in 2007. 91 routes have an aggregate length of 1981 km. All 1444 buses are colored red. Single trip costs 16-18 rub. Buses are produced by "Golden Dragon", "Higer", "NefAZ", "MAZ", "Yutong", "Hyundai", "Bogdan"

Sports

Men's teams:

Ice hockey (KHL) - Ak Bars Kazan (2-time KHL champions; 4-time champion; 2007 IIHF European Champions Cup & 2008 IIHF Continental Cup winner)

Football (Russian Premier League) - FC Rubin Kazan (2-time champion)

Basketball (Russian Basketball Super League) - UNICS Kazan (2-time Cup holder; 2004 FIBA Europe League winner; 2011 Eurocup winner)

Volleyball (Russian Superleague) - VC Zenit Kazan (3-time champion; 2008 CEV Champions League winner)

Water polo (Higher League) - Sintez (2007 champion; 2005 Cup holder; 2007 LEN Cup winner)

Bandy (Higher League) - Dynamo (2009 Russian Cup holder, 2009 FIB Champions Cup winner, 2010 Bandy World Cup winner)

Rugby (Russian League) - Strela (6-time champion)

Field hockey (Russian League) - Dinamo (5-time champion)

Team handball - KAI-Zilant (dissolved in 2008);

Futsal - Privolzhanin (dissolved in 2004);

Famous athletes

Viktor Kolotov - football player

Ruslan Nigmatullin - football player

Denis Arkhipov - hockey player

Svetlana Demina - sport shooter

Infrastructure

Central stadium - olympic stadium, capacity 30,133. Home ground for FC «Rubin». Also, new football arena with capacity 45,000 is under construction and has to be ready in 2012-2013.

TatNeft Arena - indoor sporting arena, capacity 10,000. Home to HSC «Aq Bars»

Basket-Hall - indoor sporting arena, capacity 7,000 (large hall) and 1,500 (small hall). Home to BC «UNICS»

«Rubin» stadium, capacity 10,000. Home to FC «Rubin-2»

Volleyball centre, capacity 4,600. Home to VC «Zenit» and WVC «Dynamo-Kazan»

Field Hockey centre, capacity 2,700.

«Raketa» and «Trudoviye Rezervi» ice stadiums

Important events

Kazan is the host city for the 2013 Summer Universiade, 2015 World Aquatics Championships, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

2011 European Weightlifting Championships

2005 and 2011 Bandy World Championships

2010 finswimming European championship

2008 ice hockey juniors world championship

2008 boxing students world championship

2007 field hockey Europe championship

International relations

Branch Offices of Embassies

Branch Office of the Embassy of Belarus

Consulates

Two consulates general are found in Kazan. Consulate-General of Iran. Consulate-General of Turkey.

Visa centers

Italian Visa Center in Kazan. Joint Visa Application Center of European Union for:

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kazan is twinned with: Al Qalyubiyah (Egypt), since 2001 Al Minufiyah (Egypt), since 1997 Antalya (Turkey), since 2003 Astana (Kazakhstan), since 2004 Braunschweig (Germany), since 1988 College Station, Texas (USA), since 1990 Donetsk (Ukraine), since 2002 Eskişehir (Turkey), since 1997 Hangzhou (People's Republic of China), since 2002 Istanbul (Turkey), since 2002 Tabriz (Iran), since 2009

Kazan has also partner relations with the following cities and regions:

Almaty (Kazakhstan), since 1996 Arkhangelsk (Russia), since 1999 Astrakhan (Russia), since 1997 Baku (Azerbaijan), since 2003 Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), since 1998 Chelyabinsk (Russia), since 2002 Evpatoria (Ukraine), since 1998 Ivanovo (Russia), since 1997 Jūrmala (Latvia), since 2002 Kabul (Afghanistan), since 2005 Krasnoyarsk (Russia), since 2001 Nizhny Novgorod (Russia), since 1997 Oryol (Russia), since 2010 Orenburg (Russia), since 2001 Samara (Russia), since 1998 Saratov (Russia), since 1999 Shumen Province (Bulgaria), since 2003 Tashkent (Uzbekistan), since 1998 Ufa (Russia), since 1999 Ulan-Ude (Russia), since 2003 Ulyanovsk (Russia), since 1998 Urbino (Italy), since 2001 Volgograd (Russia), since 2005 Yaroslavl (Russia), since 2003 Yoshkar-Ola (Russia), since 2002

International organisations membership

Organization of World Heritage Cities

United Cities and Local Governments

Twin Cities International Association

Historic Cities International Association

General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Kazan has an Alliance française centre.

Kazan has an American Corner.

See also

People from Kazan

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Kazan city tourist portal The City of Kazan Kazan millenium Universiade Kazan 2013

Kazan 1000 years old

The history of Islamic religion in Kazan

Kazan - Global Stroll

Images of the Kazan Kremlin and famous Mosque Interactive Google Maps Kazan Kremlin

http://www.kazan-memory.uni-tuebingen.de/indexee.html - Student project about Kazan's history (central aspects: memory, religion)

map of Kazan

The architecture of Kazan (in rus)

Russia - Republic of Tatarstan - Kazan - photo galleries

Category:Populated places on the Volga Category:Populated places established in the 11th century

af:Kazan ar:قازان az:Kazan ba:Ҡаҙан (ҡала) be:Горад Казань br:Kazan bg:Казан (Русия) ca:Kazan cv:Хусан cs:Kazaň cy:Kazan’ da:Kazan de:Kasan et:Kaasan el:Καζάν myv:Казань ош es:Kazán eo:Kazan eu:Kazan fa:قازان fr:Kazan ko:카잔 hy:Կազան hr:Kazan id:Kazan ia:Kazan os:Хъазан it:Kazan' he:קאזאן kl:Kazan ka:ყაზანი kk:Қазан (қала) kv:Казан koi:Козань lbe:Къазан (Аьрасат) la:Casanum lv:Kazaņa lt:Kazanė hu:Kazány mk:Казањ arz:كازان ms:Kazan nl:Kazan (stad) ja:カザン no:Kazan nn:Kazan mhr:Озаҥ uz:Qozon pnb:قازان pl:Kazań pt:Cazã crh:Qazan ro:Kazan qu:Kazan ru:Казань sah:Казан sco:Kazan sq:Kazani scn:Kazan' simple:Kazan sk:Kazaň cu:Каꙁанъ sl:Kazan sr:Казањ fi:Kazan sv:Kazan tl:Kazan tt:Казан tr:Kazan, Tataristan tk:Kazan udm:Кузон uk:Казань ug:قازان vi:Kazan vo:Kazan war:Kazan zh:喀山

Coordinates	9°56′00″N61°34′00″N
name	Natalie Wood
birth name	Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko
birth date	July 20, 1938
birth place	San Francisco, California
death date	November 29, 1981
death place	Santa Catalina Island, California
other namess	Natasha GurdinNatalie Wood Wagner
occupation	Actress
years active	1943–81
spouse	}}

Natalie Wood (born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko (); July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress.

Wood began acting in movies at the age of four and became a successful child actor in such films as ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). A well received performance opposite James Dean in ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and helped her to make the transition from a child performer. She then starred in the musicals ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''Gypsy'' (1962). She also received Academy Award for Best Actress nominations for her performances in ''Splendor in the Grass'' (1961) and ''Love with the Proper Stranger'' (1963).

Her career continued successfully with films such as ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969). After this she took a break from acting and had two children, appearing in only two theatrical films during the 1970s. She was married to actor Robert Wagner twice, and to producer Richard Gregson. She had one daughter by each: Natasha Gregson and Courtney Wagner. Her younger sister, Lana Wood, is also an actress. Wood starred in several television productions, including a remake of the film ''From Here to Eternity'' (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award.

Wood drowned near Santa Catalina Island, California at age 43. She had not yet completed her final film, the science fiction drama ''Brainstorm'' (1983) with Christopher Walken, which was released posthumously.

Early life and childhood stardom

Wood was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko in San Francisco, to Russian immigrant parents Maria Stepanovna (née Zudilova) (1912–1998) and Nikolai Stepanovich Zacharenko. As an adult, she stated, "I'm very Russian, you know." She spoke in Russian and English. Her father was born in Vladivostok and he, his mother, and two brothers, immigrated to Montreal, Quebec and later to San Francisco. There, he worked as a day laborer and carpenter. Her paternal grandfather Stepan worked in a chocolate factory in Russia and was killed in street fighting between Red and White Russian soldiers in 1918. After doing another film directed by Pichel, her mother signed her to a role with 20th Century Fox studio for her first major role, the Christmas classic ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), which made her one of the top child stars in Hollywood. Within a few months after the film's release she was so popular that Macy's invited her to appear in the store's annual Thanksgiving Day parade.

She would eventually appear in over 20 films as a child, appearing opposite such stars as Gene Tierney, James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Bette Davis and Bing Crosby. As a child actor, her formal education took place on the studio lots wherever she was acting. California law required that until age 18, actors had to spend at least three hours per day in the classroom, notes Harris. "She was a straight A student," and one of the few child actors to excel at arithmetic. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who directed her in ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' (1947), said that "In all my years in the business, I never met a smarter moppet." Wood remembers that period in her life:

I always felt guilty when I knew the crew was sitting around waiting for me to finish my three hours. As soon as the teacher let us go, I ran to the set as fast as I could.

Teen stardom

Wood successfully made the transition from child star to ingenue at age 16 when she co-starred with James Dean and Sal Mineo in ''Rebel Without a Cause'', Nicholas Ray's film about teenage rebellion. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She followed this with a small but crucial role in John Ford's western ''The Searchers'' which starred John Wayne and also featured Wood's sister, Lana, who played a younger version of her character in the film's earlier scenes.

In the 1953-1954 television season, Wood played Ann Morrison, the teenaged daughter in the ABC situation comedy, ''The Pride of the Family'', with Paul Hartman cast her father, Albie Morrison; Fay Wray, as her mother, Catherine, and Robert Hyatt, as her brother, Junior Morrison.

Wood graduated in 1956 from Van Nuys High School.

Signed to Warner Brothers, Wood was kept busy during the remainder of the decade in many 'girlfriend' roles that she found unsatisfying. The studio cast her in two films opposite Tab Hunter, hoping to turn the duo into a box office draw that never materialized. Among the other films made at this time were 1958's ''Kings Go Forth'' and ''Marjorie Morningstar''. As Marjorie Morningstar, she played the role of a young Jewish girl in New York City who has to deal with the social and religious expectations of her family, as she tries to forge her own path and separate identity.

Adult career

After appearing in the box office flop ''All the Fine Young Cannibals'', Wood's career was salvaged by her casting in director Elia Kazan's ''Splendor in the Grass'' (1961) opposite Warren Beatty, which earned Wood Best Actress Nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards. Also in 1961 Wood played Maria in the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise musical ''West Side Story'' which was a major box office and critical success, however, the singing parts were sung by Marni Nixon. Wood did sing when she starred in the 1962 film, ''Gypsy.'' She co-starred in the slapstick comedy ''The Great Race'' (1965), with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Peter Falk. Wood then received her third Academy Award nomination and another Golden Globe award in 1964 for ''Love with the Proper Stranger'', opposite Steve McQueen.

Although many of Wood's films were commercially profitable, her acting was criticized at times. In 1966 she won the Harvard Lampoon Worst Actress of the Year Award. She was the first performer in the award's history to accept it in person and the ''Harvard Crimson'' wrote she was "quite a good sport." Conversely, director Sydney Pollack said "When she was right for the part, there was no one better. She was a damn good actress." Other notable films she starred in were ''Inside Daisy Clover'' (1965) and ''This Property Is Condemned'' (1966), both of which co-starred Robert Redford and brought subsequent Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In both films, which were set during the Great Depression, Wood played small-town teens with big dreams. After the release of the films, Wood suffered an emotional breakdown and sought professional therapy. During this time, she turned down the Faye Dunaway role in ''Bonnie and Clyde'' because she didn't want to be separated from her analyst.

After three years away from acting, Wood played a swinger in ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), a comedy about sexual liberation. The film was one of the top ten box office hits of the year, and Wood received ten percent of the film's profits. After becoming pregnant with her first child, Natasha Gregson, in 1970, she went into semi-retirement and only acted in four more theatrical films during the remainder of her life. She made a very brief cameo appearance as herself in ''The Candidate'' (1972), reuniting her for a third time with Robert Redford. She also reunited on the screen with Robert Wagner in the television movie of the week ''The Affair'' (1973) and in an adaptation of ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1976) broadcast as a special by NBC in which she also worked with Sir Laurence Olivier. She made cameo appearances on Wagner's prime-time detective series ''Switch'' in 1978 as "Bubble Bath Girl" and ''Hart to Hart'' in 1979 as "Movie Star." During the last two years of her life, Wood began to work more frequently as her daughters reached school age.

Film roles Wood turned down during her career hiatus went to Ali MacGraw in ''Goodbye, Columbus'', Mia Farrow in ''The Great Gatsby'' and Faye Dunaway in ''The Towering Inferno''. Later, Wood chose to star in misfires like the disaster film ''Meteor'' (1979) with Sean Connery and the sex comedy ''The Last Married Couple in America'' (1980). She found more success in television, receiving high ratings and critical acclaim in 1979 for ''The Cracker Factory'' and especially the miniseries film ''From Here to Eternity'' with Kim Basinger and William Devane. Wood's performance in the latter won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1980. Later that year, she starred in ''The Memory of Eva Ryker'' which proved to be her last completed production.

At the time of her death, Wood was filming the sci-fi film ''Brainstorm'' (1983), co-starring Christopher Walken and directed by Douglas Trumbull. She was also scheduled to star in a theatrical production of ''Anastasia'' with Wendy Hiller and in a film called ''Country of the Heart'', playing a terminally ill writer who has an affair with a teenager, to be played by Timothy Hutton. Due to her untimely death, both of the latter projects were canceled and the ending of ''Brainstorm'' had to be re-written. A stand-in and sound-alikes were used to replace Wood for some of her critical scenes. The film was released posthumously on September 30, 1983, and was dedicated to her in the closing credits.

She appeared in 56 films for cinema and television. Following her death, ''Time'' magazine noted that although critical praise for Wood had been sparse throughout her career, "she always had work."

Personal life

Marriages

Natalie Wood's two marriages to actor Robert Wagner were highly publicized. Wood said she had a crush on Wagner since she was a child and on her 18th birthday she went on a studio-arranged date with the 26-year old actor. They married a year later on December 28, 1957, which met with great protest from Wood's mother. In an article in February 2009, Wagner recalled their early romance:

I saw Natalie around town but she never seemed interested. She was making ''Rebel Without a Cause'' and hanging out with James Dean; I was with an older crowd. The first time I remember really talking to her was at a fashion show in 1956. She was beautiful, but still gave no hint about the mad crush she had on me. I later found out she had signed with my agent simply because he was my agent. A month later, I invited Natalie to a premiere on what turned out to be her 18th birthday. At dinner, we both sensed things were different. I sent her flowers and the dates continued. I remember the instant I fell in love with her. One night on board a small boat I owned, she looked at me with love, her dark brown eyes lit by a table lantern. That moment changed my life.

A year after their wedding, Wood expressed her feelings in a letter to her new husband:

: "You are my husband, my child, my strength, my weakness, my lover, my life."

Wood and Wagner separated in June 1961 and divorced in April 1962.

On May 30, 1969, Wood married British producer Richard Gregson. The couple dated for two and a half years prior to their marriage, while Gregson waited for his divorce to be finalized. They had a daughter, Natasha Gregson (born September 29, 1970). They separated in August 1971 after Wood overheard an inappropriate telephone conversation between her secretary and Gregson. The split also marked a brief estrangement between Wood and her family, when mother Maria and sister Lana told her to reconcile with Gregson for the sake of her newborn child. She filed for divorce, and it was finalized in April 1972.

In early 1972, Wood resumed her relationship with Wagner. The couple remarried on July 16, 1972, just five months after reconciling and only three months after she divorced Gregson. Their daughter, Courtney Wagner, was born on March 9, 1974. They remained married until Wood's death nine years later on November 29, 1981.

Other relationships

Biographer Suzanne Finstad writes that Wood had a relationship with director Nicholas Ray, director of ''Rebel Without a Cause'', when she was 16 and he was 43. During her teens, Wood went on studio-arranged dates with older men, including actors Tab Hunter and Nick Adams, and dated actor Raymond Burr, when she was 17 and he was 38. Wood also dated actors Michael Caine, Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty and Dennis Hopper, singer Elvis Presley, director Henry Jaglom, and politician Jerry Brown.

Among her celebrity friends were fellow child performers Margaret O'Brien, Carol Lynley and Stefanie Powers, .

Death

In September and October 1981, Wood stayed in Raleigh, North Carolina where she, Christopher Walken, Louise Fletcher and other cast members did location work for the science-fiction film ''Brainstorm''. Although her husband Robert Wagner had a commitment to his series ''Hart to Hart'' in Los Angeles, he visited Wood in Raleigh once. Wood spent most of November in California shooting interior scenes, many of them utilizing special effects, with other cast members on the MGM lot in Culver City.

Wood spent Thanksgiving at her Beverly Hills home with her husband, parents, sister Lana and secretary Mart Crowley. The next day, the Wagners and Christopher Walken went to Catalina Island for the weekend. On Saturday night, November 28, the Wagners' yacht (''Splendour'') was anchored in Isthmus Cove. Also on board was the boat's skipper, Dennis Davern, who had worked for the couple for many years. The official theory is that Wood either tried to leave the yacht or to secure a dinghy from banging against the hull when she accidentally slipped and fell overboard. When her body was found, she was wearing a down jacket, nightgown, and socks. A woman on a nearby yacht said she heard calls for help at around midnight. The cries lasted for about 15 minutes and were answered by someone else who said, "Take it easy. We'll be over to get you." "It was laid back," the witness recalled. "There was no urgency or immediacy in their shouts." There was much partying going on in the waters of Isthmus Cove, though, and while it has never been proven that the woman calling for help was, indeed, Natalie Wood, no other person has ever been identified or come forward as having called out for help on that night. An investigation by Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi resulted in an official verdict of accidental drowning. Noguchi concluded Wood had drunk "seven or eight" glasses of wine and was intoxicated when she died. Noguchi also wrote that he found Wood's fingernail scratches on the side of the rubber dinghy indicating she was trying to get in. Wood was 43 at the time of her death and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. On March 11, 2010 Wood's sister Lana stated that she is going to ask that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reopen the case of her death.

Scores of international media and photographers and thousands of ordinary spectators tried to attend Wood's funeral at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. All were required to remain outside the cemetery walls. Among the notable attendees were Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Elia Kazan and Sir Laurence Olivier. Olivier flew from London to Los Angeles to attend.

Filmography

Film

Notes
1943		Little girl who drops ice cream cone	uncredited
1946	''The Bride Wore Boots''	Carol Warren
1946	''Tomorrow Is Forever''	Margaret Ludwig
1947	''Driftwood''	Jenny Hollingsworth
1947	''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir''	Anna Muir as a child
1947	''Miracle on 34th Street''	Susan Walker
1948	''Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!''	Bean McGill
1949	''Father Was a Fullback''	Ellen Cooper
1949	''The Green Promise''	Susan Anastasia Matthews
1949	''Chicken Every Sunday''	Ruth Hefferan
1950		Nancy 'Nan' Howard
1950	''The Jackpot''	Phyllis Lawrence
1950		Penny Macaulay
1950	''No Sad Songs for Me''	Polly Scott
1951	''The Blue Veil''	Stephanie Rawlins
1951	''Dear Brat''	Pauline Jones
1952		Gretchen Drew
1952	''Just for You'	Barbara Blake
1952	''The Rose Bowl Story''	Sally Burke
1954		Helena as a child
1955	''Rebel Without a Cause''	Judy	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1955	''One Desire''	Seely Dowder
1956	''The Girl He Left Behind''	Susan Daniels
1956	''The Burning Hills''	Maria Christina Colton
1956	''A Cry in the Night''	Liz Taggert
1956		Debbie Edwards (older)
1957	''Bombers B-52''	Lois Brennan
1958	''Kings Go Forth''	Monique Blair
1958		Marjorie Morgenstern
1960	''All the Fine Young Cannibals''	Sarah 'Salome' Davis
1960	''Cash McCall''	Lory Austen
1961		Maria
1961	''Splendor in the Grass''	Wilma Dean Loomis
1962		Louise	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1963	''Love with the Proper Stranger''	Angie Rossini	Nominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1964		Helen Gurley Brown
1965	''Inside Daisy Clover''	Daisy Clover	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—World Film Favorite – Female
1965	''The Great Race''	Maggie DuBois
1966		Penelope Elcott
1966	''This Property Is Condemned''	Alva Starr	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1969	''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice''	Carol Sanders
1972		Herself	cameo
1973	''The Affair''	Courtney Patterson	TV movie
1975	''Peeper''	Ellen Prendergast
1976	''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof''	Maggie	TV movie
1979		Karen Holmes	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
1979	''The Cracker Factory''	Cassie Barrett	TV movie
1979		Tatiana Nikolaevna Donskaya
1980	''The Last Married Couple in America''	Mari Thompson
1980	''The Memory of Eva Ryker''	Eva/Claire Ryker	TV movie
1980	''Willie & Phil''	Herself	(cameo)
1983		Karen Brace	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress

Television

Notes
1953	''Jukebox Jury''	as Herself	Guest appearance
1953	''Pride of the Family''	Ann Morrison	One season
1954		Rene Marchand	One episode, "Return of the Dead"
1969	''Bracken's World''	Cameo	Guest appearance
1978		Girl in the Bubble Bath	Guest Appearance
1979	''Hart to Hart''	Movie Star	Pilot episode, as Natasha Gurdin

Other awards

Most Talented Young Actress of 1946 National Association of Theatre OwnersGolden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Grauman's Chinese Theatre Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Mar del Plata Film FestivalNew York Film Critics Circle Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Globe Award Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Golden Laurel Awards Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

Year !! Organization !! Award !! Film !! Result
1946	Box Office Magazine	|	''Tomorrow Is Forever''	Won
1956	|	Star of Tomorrow Award		Won
1957	Golden Globe Award ||	New Star Of The Year – Actress	''Rebel Without a Cause''	Won
1958	|	Top Female Dramatic Performance	Marjorie Morningstar (film)>Marjorie Morningstar''	Nominated
1958	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (13th place)
1959	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (7th place)
1960	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (9th place)
1961	|	Handprint Ceremony		Inducted
1961	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (14th place)
1962	|	Top Female Dramatic Performance	''Splendor in the Grass''	Nominated
1962	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (5th place)
1963	|	Top Female Musical Performance	Gypsy (1962 film)>Gypsy''	Nominated
1963	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (2nd place)
1964	|	Best Actress	''Love with the Proper Stranger''	Won
1964	|	Best Actress	''Love with the Proper Stranger''	Nominated
1964	|	Top Female Dramatic Performance	''Love with the Proper Stranger''	Nominated
1964	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (3rd place)
1965	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (6th place)
1966	|	World Film Favorite		Won
1966	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (8th place)
1967	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (3rd place)
1968	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (12th place)
1970	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (9th place)
1971	|	Top Female Star		Nominated (9th place)
1987	|	Hollywood Walk of Fame		Inducted

Bibliography

Frascella, Lawrence and Al Weisel. ''Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause''. Touchstone, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-6082-1.

Nickens, Christopher. ''Natalie Wood: A Biography in Photographs''. Doubleday, 1986. ISBN 0-385-23307-8.

Noguchi, Thomas T. ''Coroner''. Simon & Schuster (October 1983). ISBN 0671467727.

Rulli, Marti and Dennis Davern. ''Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour''. Medallion, 2009. ISBN 1597776394.

Wood, Lana. ''Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister''. Putnam Pub Group, 1984. ISBN 0-399-12903-0.

References

External links

'Natalie Wood Style and Beauty Page'

Natalie Wood at Who2

Category:1938 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:American actors Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American people of Russian descent Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Deaths by drowning Category:New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:People from Santa Rosa, California Category:Santa Rosa, California

an:Natalie Wood bs:Natalie Wood ca:Natalie Wood cs:Natalie Wood cy:Natalie Wood da:Natalie Wood de:Natalie Wood es:Natalie Wood eo:Natalie Wood eu:Natalie Wood fa:ناتالی وود fr:Natalie Wood gv:Natalie Wood hr:Natalie Wood id:Natalie Wood it:Natalie Wood he:נטלי ווד ka:ნატალი ვუდი hu:Natalie Wood nl:Natalie Wood ja:ナタリー・ウッド no:Natalie Wood pl:Natalie Wood pt:Natalie Wood ro:Natalie Wood ru:Натали Вуд sl:Natalie Wood sr:Натали Вуд sh:Natalie Wood fi:Natalie Wood sv:Natalie Wood tl:Natalie Wood th:นาตาลี วูด tr:Natalie Wood uk:Наталі Вуд zh:娜妲麗·華

Coordinates	9°56′00″N61°34′00″N
birth name	Henry Warren Beaty
birth date	March 30, 1937
birth place	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
spouse	Annette Bening (1992–present)
occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
years active	1957–present }}

Warren Beatty ( ; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award. He is married to actress Annette Bening.

Early life and education

Beatty was born Henry Warren Beaty in Richmond, Virginia's Bellevue neighborhood. His mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a Nova Scotia–born drama teacher, and his father, Ira Owens Beaty, was a professor of psychology, a public school administrator, and a real estate agent. Beatty's grandparents were also teachers. The family was Baptist. His father moved the family from Richmond to Norfolk, Virginia, and then to Arlington, Virginia, where he became a middle school principal. The family also lived in Waverly, Virginia, in the 1930s. Beatty's sister, three years his senior, is the multi-award winning actress and writer Shirley MacLaine.

Beatty was a star football player at Washington-Lee High School, in Arlington, Virginia. Encouraged to act by the success of his sister, who had recently established herself as a Hollywood star, he decided to work as a stagehand at the National Theater in Washington, D.C., during the summer prior to his senior year. This enabled him to establish contact with a few famous actors. Upon graduation from high school, he turned down 10 football scholarships to enroll in drama school.

He studied acting and directing at the Northwestern University school of drama. While at Northwestern, he appeared in the annual Dolphin show. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He dropped out after his freshman year to enroll in the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in New York City. By the age of twenty-two, Beatty had appeared in about forty Off Broadway productions. He garnered a best actor Tony Award nomination in 1960 for his performance in William Inge's drama ''A Loss of Roses''. It was to be his only appearance on the Broadway stage.

Military service

Under his original name of Henry W. Beaty, Warren Beatty enlisted in the California Air National Guard on February 11, 1960.

On January 1, 1961, Beatty was discharged from the Air National Guard due to physical disability. He was also simultaneously discharged from the United States Air Force Reserve. Since he served on inactive duty only, Beatty was not awarded any military decorations.

Career

1950s and 1960s

Beatty started his career making appearances in television series such as ''Studio One'' (1957), ''Playhouse 90'' (1959), and ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' (1959). He made his film debut under Elia Kazan's direction and opposite Natalie Wood in ''Splendor in the Grass'' (1961). The film was a box office success and Beatty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category Best Motion Picture Actor – Drama. Subsequently he appeared in several small films such as ''The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (1961). Then, at age 30, he achieved critical acclaim and power as a producer and star of ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967), which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Beatty.

Warner Bros. had such little faith in ''Bonnie and Clyde'', they decided to give Beatty 40% of the gross box office receipts instead of a flat fee, expecting it to be a major flop. The film made $70 million within six years.

Because of his work on ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967), Beatty is generally regarded as the precursor of the New Hollywood generation, which included such filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese.

After being outmaneuvered by Woody Allen and ultimately forced out of the production of ''What's New, Pussycat?'', a film in which he was originally cast as the star, and afraid of being typecast as a milquetoast leading man, Beatty produced and starred in ''Bonnie and Clyde'' as a means of controlling the projects he was involved with. He hired the untested writers Robert Benton and David Newman, as well as director Arthur Penn, and controlled every facet of production, including cast, script and final cut of the film, as he would throughout the rest of his career, be it as producer/director or only as producer. It should be noted that in ''Bugsy'' it was Beatty, the producer, who had final cut on the film, not Barry Levinson, the director.

''Bonnie and Clyde'' became a blockbuster and cultural touchstone for the youth culture of the era. The film, along with ''Easy Rider'', marked the beginning of the so-called “New Hollywood” era , where studios gave unprecedented freedom to filmmakers to pursue their own idiosyncratic vision.

1970s and 1980s

Beatty worked under legendary director Robert Altman in ''McCabe & Mrs. Miller'' (1971) and starred in ''The Parallax View'' (1974), ''Shampoo'' (1975), which Beatty co-wrote with Robert Towne. Beatty and Towne won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film. In 1978, Beatty directed, produced, wrote and starred in ''Heaven Can Wait'' (1978). The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The box office success of ''Shampoo'' and ''Heaven Can Wait'' allowed Beatty to handpick his next project. He used this power to make ''Reds'' (1981), an historical epic about the Communist journalist John Reed who observed the Russian October Revolution – a project Beatty had begun researching and filming for as far back as 1970.

After a six-year hiatus following ''Reds'', Beatty starred alongside Dustin Hoffman in 1987's big-budget film ''Ishtar''. It was critically panned and is regarded as one of the biggest box office bombs in film history. In 1989, he recorded the duet, "Now I'm Following You" with Madonna for her 1990 album, ''I'm Breathless''.

1990s and 2000s

In 1990, he bounced back when he produced, directed and starred (alongside his ''Ishtar'' co-star Hoffman) in the title role as the comic strip character Dick Tracy in the film of the same name. The film was one of the highest grossers of the year and also the highest-grossing film in Beatty's career to date.

In 1991, he starred as the real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in the biopic ''Bugsy'' which was critically acclaimed and made almost fifty million dollars at the U.S. box-office. His next film, ''Love Affair'' (1994), failed to do well. In 1998 he wrote, produced, directed and starred in the political satire ''Bulworth'' which was critically appreciated and earned him another nomination for Best Original Screenplay. In 2001, he appeared in his last film to date, ''Town and Country'', which became the second-largest money loser of any movie ever made (after ''The Adventures of Pluto Nash'') based on contemporary dollars lost: it was made on a budget of approximately USD $90 million, but earned only $6.7 million domestically. Since then, Beatty has not acted in any films but has expressed interest in returning to cinema.

In 2006, Beatty was named Honorary Chairman of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, succeeding Marlon Brando. In 2007, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded Beatty the Cecil B. DeMille award, presented at the Golden Globe ceremony by Tom Hanks. Beatty was honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008.

Beatty is on the Board of Trustees at The Scripps Research Institute.

Beatty is one of the few people to receive Oscar nominations in the Best Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay categories for a single film. This feat is all the more impressive since Beatty achieved it twice: in 1978 for ''Heaven Can Wait'', where he won none of the awards; and again for ''Reds'' in 1981, where he won the directing award. His writing credits have often been in dispute, however. In Peter Biskind's biography of Beatty, ''Star'', several distinguished writers with whom Beatty has collaborated (e.g., Bo Goldman, Robert Towne, James Toback, Robert Benton, et al.) have claimed that Beatty often requested or demanded writing credit where little or none was due.

Beatty's overall Academy Award nominations number 14: he received Best Picture nominations for ''Bonnie and Clyde'', and ''Bugsy'', ''Reds'' and ''Heaven Can Wait'', received writing nominations for ''Shampoo'', Reds, ''Bulworth'' and ''Heaven Can Wait'', received Best Director nominations for ''Heaven Can Wait'' and ''Reds'', and has received Best Actor nominations for ''Bonnie and Clyde'', ''Heaven Can Wait'', ''Reds'' and ''Bugsy''.

Tribune lawsuit

In May 2005, Beatty sued Tribune Co. for $30 million in damages, claiming he still maintains the rights to ''Dick Tracy''. Beatty received the rights in 1985 and claimed that Tribune moved to reclaim them in violation of various notification procedures. There was talk of a sequel, and Beatty did express interest in reprising the part, but the sequel was sidelined by unexpected legal disputes. In March 2009, Tribune filed suit against Beatty, saying that Beatty had "made no productive use" of the rights for over a decade, causing them to revert back to Tribune.

Political work

A longtime activist in various liberal political causes, Beatty has, at various times, been extremely active in the presidential politics of the Democratic Party. In 1968, he hit the campaign trail for the first time, supporting Senator Robert F. Kennedy's bid for his party's presidential nomination. His involvement in the senator's campaign, which included stump speaking and fundraising, was cut short when Kennedy was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan on the same night that he won a crucial primary in California.

Four years later, Beatty joined the campaign of Senator George McGovern as an advisor. As part of the so-called "Malibu Mafia," a group of Hollywood celebrities who were part of the candidate's "inner circle," Beatty gave McGovern's campaign manager Gary Hart advice about the handling of public relations and was instrumental in organizing a series of rock concerts which raised over $1 million for the senator's campaign.

In 1984, and again in 1988, Beatty was to play a similar role in Hart's own presidential campaigns. Hart, who had, by that time, become a senator himself, had become friends with Beatty during the 1972 campaign and the relationship had grown closer during the intervening decade. After Hart's second campaign imploded over allegations that he had committed adultery with a former beauty queen named Donna Rice, a mutual friend of the two explained why they were so close: "Gary always wanted to have Warren's life and Warren always wanted to have Gary's. It was a match made in heaven."

Beatty seriously considered becoming a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination during the summer of 1999 . After it became clear that the only two contenders for the Democratic Party's nomination were to be Vice President Al Gore and former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Beatty made it generally known that he was dissatisfied with the two choices and began to drop hints that he might be willing to seek the nomination himself. After meeting with several powerful liberal activists and influential Democratic operatives, including pollster Pat Caddell, who had worked previously for Hart, McGovern, California governor Jerry Brown and President Jimmy Carter, and adman Bill Hillsman, who had worked on the campaigns of Senator Paul Wellstone and Governor Jesse Ventura, Beatty announced in September 1999 that he would not seek the nomination. However, he continued to be courted by members of a different political party, the Reform Party, who were looking for an alternative to Pat Buchanan, a conservative who had switched parties after losing the Republican Party's presidential nomination for the third time in a row. Despite frequent entreaties by Governor Ventura, real-estate magnate Donald Trump, and syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, Beatty refused to enter the race and Buchanan eventually won the Reform Party's nomination.

Despite his decision not to seek the presidency in 2000, Beatty intimated that he might still run at a later time, telling reporters that he would do so if he thought he "could make an impact on the debate". As California governor Gray Davis' popularity with California voters dropped, Beatty campaigned against the 2003 special election. He was the keynote speaker at the California Nurses Association's 2005 convention, and recorded radio ads urging voters to reject Governor Schwarzenegger's ballot proposals. The propositions were defeated at the ballot box, increasing speculation that Beatty might run against Schwarzenegger in the 2006 election. But, in early 2006, Beatty announced he would not seek the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Beatty's anticipated run for president in 2000 was lampooned by Gary Trudeau in his strip Doonesbury.

Personal life

Beatty has had romantic relationships with singers Madonna, Cher, Carly Simon, Michelle Phillips, actresses Natalie Wood, her sister Lana Wood, Julie Christie, Leslie Caron, Goldie Hawn, Joan Collins, Diane Keaton, Mary Tyler Moore, Isabelle Adjani, and supermodels Elle MacPherson and Stephanie Seymour.

After years of dating many famous women, he married Annette Bening on March 12, 1992, with whom he co-starred in the film ''Bugsy''. Beatty and Benning have four children together.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan=2|1961 |''Splendor in the Grass'' |Bud Stamper |Golden Globe Award for Most Promising NewcomerNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |''The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' |Paolo di Leo | |- |1962 |''All Fall Down'' |Berry-Berry Willart | |- |1964 |''Lilith'' |Vincent Bruce | |- |rowspan=3|1965 |''Mickey One'' |Mickey One | |- |''Promise Her Anything'' |Harley Rummell | |- |''What's New Pussycat'' | |(executive producer) (uncredited) |- |1966 |''Kaleidoscope'' |Barney Lincoln | |- |1967 |''Bonnie and Clyde'' |Clyde Barrow |(also producer)Nominated – Academy Award for Best ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best PictureNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |1970 |''The Only Game in Town'' |Joe Grady | |- |rowspan=2|1971 |''McCabe & Mrs. Miller'' |John McCabe |- |- |''$'' |Joe Collins | |- |1973 |''Year of the Woman'' | |(documentary) |- |1974 |''The Parallax View'' |Joseph Frady | |- |rowspan=2|1975 |''Shampoo'' |George Roundy |(also producer and co-writer with Robert Towne)Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original ScreenplayNominated – Academy Award For Best Original ScreenplayNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- |''The Fortune'' |Nicky Wilson | |- |1978 |''Heaven Can Wait'' |Joe Pendleton |(also director with Buck Henry, producer, and co-writer)Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedySaturn Award for Best ActorSaturn Award for Best WritingWriters Guild of America Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Academy Award for Best ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best PictureNominated – Academy Award for Best DirectorNominated – Academy Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature FilmNominated – Saturn Award for Best Direction |- |1981 |''Reds'' |John Reed |(also director, producer, and co-writer)Academy Award for Best DirectorDavid di Donatello for Best ProducerDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature FilmGolden Globe Award for Best DirectorLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best DirectorNational Board of Review Award for Best DirectorWriters Guild of America Award for Best Original ScreenplayNominated – Academy Award for Best ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best PictureNominated – Academy Award for Best Original ScreenplayNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay |- |1984 |''George Stevens: A Filmmakers Journey'' | |(documentary) |- |1987 |''Ishtar'' |Lyle Rogers |(also producer) |- |1990 |''Dick Tracy'' |Dick Tracy |(also producer and director) |- |rowspan=2|1991 |''Madonna: Truth or Dare'' |himself |(documentary) |- |''Bugsy'' |Bugsy Siegel |(also producer)National Board of Review Award for Best ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best PictureNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |1992 |''Writing with Light: Vittorio Storaro'' | |(documentary) |- |1994 |''Love Affair'' |Mike Gambril |(also producer and co-writer) |- |1998 |''Bulworth'' |Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth |(also producer, director and co-writer)Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ScreenplayNominated – Academy Award for Best Original ScreenplayNominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best ScreenplayNominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay |- |1999 |''The Book That Wrote Itself'' | |(cameo) |- |2001 |''Town & Country'' |Porter Stoddard | |- |2003 |''Dean Tavoularis: The Magician of Hollywood'' | |(documentary) |- |2005 |''One Bright Shining Moment'' | |(documentary) |- |2012 |''Untitled Howard Hughes film'' |Howard Hughes | |- |}

References

Further reading

Ellis Amburn, ''The Sexiest Man Alive : A Biography of Warren Beatty'', HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 2002. ISBN 0-06-018566-X

Suzanne Finstad, ''Warren Beatty : A Private Man'', Random House, Inc., New York, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4606-8

Peter Biskind, ''Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America'', Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, 2010. ISBN 978-0743246583

External links

Category:1937 births Category:Actors from Virginia Category:Akira Kurosawa Award winners Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American screenwriters Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:California Democrats Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Category:English-language film directors Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:Northwestern University alumni Category:People from Richmond, Virginia Category:Saturn Award winners Category:The Scripps Research Institute Category:United States Air Force airmen Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

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Coordinates	9°56′00″N61°34′00″N
name	Marlon Brando
birth name	Marlon Brando, Jr.
birth date	April 03, 1924
birth place	Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
death date	July 01, 2004
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
death cause	Respiratory failure
nationality	American
education	The New School
spouse	Anna Kashfi (1957–59)Movita Castaneda (1960–62)Tarita Teriipia (1962–72)
children	13, including:Christian Brando (deceased)Cheyenne Brando (deceased)Stephen Blackehart
parents	Marlon Brando, Sr.Dodie Brando
website	http://www.marlonbrando.com/ }}

Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor who performed for over half a century.

An enduring cultural icon, Brando was perhaps best known for his role as Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951), his Academy Award-nominated performance as Emiliano Zapata in ''Viva Zapata!'' (1952), his role as Mark Antony in the MGM film adaptation of the Shakespeare play ''Julius Caesar'' (1953), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, and his Academy Award-winning performance as Terry Malloy in ''On the Waterfront'' (1954). During the 1970s, he was most famous for his Academy Award-winning performance as Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's ''The Godfather'' (1972), also playing Colonel Walter Kurtz in another Coppola film, ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979). Brando delivered an Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in ''Last Tango in Paris'' (1972), in addition to directing and starring in the western film ''One-Eyed Jacks'' (1961).

Brando had a significant impact on film acting, and was the foremost example of the "method" acting style. While he became notorious for his "mumbling" diction and exuding a raw animal magnetism, his mercurial performances were nonetheless highly regarded, and he is widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential actors of the 20th century. Director Martin Scorsese said of him, "He is the marker. There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando'.'" Actor Jack Nicholson once said, "When Marlon dies, everybody moves up one."

Brando was also an activist, supporting many issues, notably the African-American Civil Rights Movement and various American Indian Movements.

Early life

Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and his wife, Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). His parents moved to Evanston, Illinois, but separated when he was eleven years old. His mother took her three children: Jocelyn (1919–2005), Frances (1922–1994) and Marlon, to live with her mother in Santa Ana, California. In 1937, Brando's parents reconciled and moved together to Libertyville, Illinois, north of Chicago.

Brando's family was of mostly Irish ancestry. He also had distant French ancestry. Brando was raised a Christian Scientist. His grandmother Marie Holloway abandoned her family when Marlon Brando, Sr., was five years old. She used the money Eugene sent her to support her gambling and alcoholism.''

Marlon Brando, Sr., was a talented amateur photographer. His wife, known as Dodie, was unconventional but talented, having been an actress. She smoked, wore trousers, and drove cars, unusual for women at the time. However, she was an alcoholic and often had to be brought home from Chicago bars by her husband; she finally joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie Brando acted and was a theater administrator. She helped Henry Fonda to begin his acting career, and fueled her son Marlon's interest in stage acting. However, Brando was closer to his maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, than to his mother. Widowed while young, Meyers worked as a secretary and later as a Christian Science practitioner. Her father, Myles Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland; her mother, Julia Watts, was from England.

Brando was a mimic from early childhood and developed an ability to absorb the mannerisms of people he played and display them dramatically while staying in character. His sister Jocelyn Brando was the first to pursue an acting career, going to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She appeared on Broadway, then movies and television. Brando's sister Frances left college in California to study art in New York. Brando soon followed her.

Brando had been held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the corridors. He was sent to Shattuck Military Academy, where his father had studied before him. Brando excelled at theatre and did well in the school. In his final year (1943), however, he was put on probation for talking back to a student officer during maneuvers. He was confined to the campus, but tried going into town, and was caught. The faculty voted to expel him, though he was supported by the students, who thought expulsion was too harsh. He was invited back for the following year, but decided instead to drop out of high school.

Brando worked as a ditch-digger as a summer job arranged by his father. It was also during this time that Brando attempted to join the Army. However at his army induction physical it was discovered that a football injury that he had sustained at Shattuck had left him with a trick knee. Brando was therefore classified as a 4-F, and not inducted into the Army. He then decided to follow his sisters to New York. His father supported him for six months, then offered to help him find a job as a salesman. However, Brando left to study at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, part of the Dramatic Workshop of The New School with the influential German director Erwin Piscator and at the Actors Studio. He also studied with Stella Adler and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System. There is a story in which Adler spoke about teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the class to act like chickens, then adding that a nuclear bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. Asked by Adler why he had chosen to react this way, he said, "I'm a chicken, what do I know about nuclear bombs?"

Career

Early work

Brando used his Stanislavski System skills for his first summer-stock roles in Sayville, New York on Long Island. His behavior got him kicked out of the cast of the New School's production in Sayville, but he was discovered in a locally produced play there and then made it to Broadway in the bittersweet drama ''I Remember Mama'' in 1944. Critics voted him "Broadway's Most Promising Actor" for his role as an anguished veteran in ''Truckline Café'', although the play was a commercial failure. In 1946 he appeared on Broadway as the young hero in the political drama ''A Flag is Born'', refusing to accept wages above the Actor's Equity rate because of his commitment to the cause of Israeli independence. In that same year, Brando played the role of Marchbanks with Katharine Cornell in her production's revival of Candida, one of her signature roles. Cornell also cast him as The Messenger in a her production of Jean Anouilh's Antigone that same year. Brando achieved stardom, however, as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams's 1947 play ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' directed by Elia Kazan. Brando sought out that role, driving out to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Williams was spending the summer, to audition for the part. Williams recalled that he opened the screen door and knew, instantly, that he had his Stanley Kowalski. Brando's performance revolutionized acting technique and set the model for the American form of method acting.

Afterward, Brando was asked to do a screen test for Warner Brothers studio for the film ''Rebel Without A Cause'', which James Dean was later cast in. The screen test appears as an extra in the 2006 DVD release of ''A Streetcar Named Desire''.

Brando's first screen role was as the bitter paraplegic veteran in ''The Men'' in 1950. True to his method, Brando spent a month in bed at the Birmingham Army Hospital in Van Nuys to prepare for the role. By Brando's own account it may have been because of this film that his draft status was changed from 4-F to 1-A. He had had an operation on the knee he had injured at Shattuck, and it was no longer physically debilitating enough to incur exclusion from the draft. When Brando reported to the induction center he answered a questionnaire provided to him by saying his race was "human", his color was "Seasonal-oyster white to beige", and he told an Army doctor that he was psycho neurotic. When the draft board referred him to a psychiatrist Brando explained how he had been expelled from Military School, and that he had severe problems with authority. Coincidentally enough the psychiatrist knew a doctor friend of Brando, and Brando was able to avoid military service during the Korean War.

Rise to fame

Brando brought his performance as Stanley Kowalski to the screen in Kazan's adaptation of Tennessee Williams's ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for that role, and again in each of the next three years for his roles in ''Viva Zapata!'' in 1952, ''Julius Caesar'' in 1953 as Mark Antony, and ''On the Waterfront'' in 1954. These first five films of his career established Brando, as evidenced in his winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in three consecutive years, 1951 to 1953.

In 1953, Brando also starred in ''The Wild One'' riding his own Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle which caused consternation to Triumph's importers, as the subject matter was rowdy motorcycle gangs taking over a small town. But the images of Brando posing with his Triumph motorcycle became iconic, even forming the basis of his wax dummy at Madame Tussauds.

Later that same year, Brando starred in Lee Falk's production of George Bernard Shaw's ''Arms and the Man'' in Boston. Falk was proud to tell people that Marlon Brando turned down an offer of $10,000 per week on Broadway, in favor of working on Falk's play in Boston. His Boston contract was less than $500 per week. It would be the last time he ever acted in a stage play.

Brando won the Oscar for his role as Terry Malloy in ''On the Waterfront''. For the famous ''I coulda' been a contender'' scene, Brando convinced Kazan that the scripted scene was unrealistic, and with Rod Steiger, improvised the final product.

Brando then took a variety of roles in the 1950s: as Sky Masterson in the musical ''Guys and Dolls''; as Sakini, a Japanese interpreter for the U.S. Army in postwar Japan in ''The Teahouse of the August Moon''; as a United States Air Force officer in ''Sayonara'', and a Nazi officer in ''The Young Lions''.

In the 1960s, Brando starred in films such as ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1962); ''One-Eyed Jacks'' (1961), a western that would be the only film Brando would ever direct; ''The Chase'' (1966), and ''Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), portraying a repressed gay army officer. It was the type of performance that later led critic Stanley Crouch to write, "Brando's main achievement was to portray the taciturn but stoic gloom of those pulverized by circumstances." He also played a guru in the sex farce ''Candy'' (1968). ''Burn!'' (1969), which Brando would later claim as his personal favorite, was a commercial failure. His career slowed down by the end of the decade as he gained a reputation for being difficult to work with.

''The Godfather''

Brando's performance as Vito Corleone or 'the Don' in 1972's ''The Godfather'' was a mid-career turning point. Director Francis Ford Coppola convinced Brando to submit to a "make-up" test, in which Brando did his own makeup (he used cotton balls to simulate the puffed-cheek look). Coppola was electrified by Brando's characterization as the head of a crime family, but had to fight the studio in order to cast the temperamental Brando. Mario Puzo always imagined Brando as Corleone. However, Paramount studio heads wanted to give the role to Danny Thomas in the hope that Thomas would have his own production company throw in its lot with Paramount. Thomas declined the role and actually urged the studio to cast Brando at the behest of Coppola and others who had witnessed the screen test.

Eventually, Charles Bluhdorn, the president of Paramount parent Gulf + Western, was won over to letting Brando have the role; when he saw the screen test, he asked in amazement, "What are we watching? Who is this old guinea?"

Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but turned down the Oscar, becoming the second actor to refuse a Best Actor award (the first being George C. Scott for ''Patton''). Brando boycotted the award ceremony, sending instead American Indian Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who appeared in full Apache dress, to state Brando's reasons, which were based on his objection to the depiction of American Indians by Hollywood and television.

The actor followed with Bernardo Bertolucci's 1973 film, ''Last Tango in Paris'', but the performance was overshadowed by an uproar over the erotic nature of the film. Despite the controversy which attended both the film and the man, the Academy once again nominated Brando for the Best Actor.

Brando, along with James Caan, was later scheduled in 1974 to appear in the final scene of ''The Godfather Part II''. However, rewrites were made to the script when Brando refused to show up to the studio on the single day of shooting due to disputes with the studio.

Later career

Brando portrayed Superman's father Jor-El in the 1978 film ''Superman''. He agreed to the role only on assurance that he would be paid a large sum for what amounted to a small part, that he would not have to read the script beforehand and his lines would be displayed somewhere off-camera. It was revealed in a documentary contained in the 2001 DVD release of ''Superman'', that he was paid $3.7 million for just two weeks of work.

Brando also filmed scenes for the movie's sequel, ''Superman II'', but after producers refused to pay him the same percentage he received for the first movie, he denied them permission to use the footage. However, after Brando's death the footage was reincorporated into the 2006 re-cut of the film, ''Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut''.

Two years after Brando's death, he "reprised" the role of Jor-El in the 2006 "loose sequel" ''Superman Returns'', in which both used and unused archive footage of Brando as Jor-El from the first two Superman films was remastered for a scene in the Fortress of Solitude, and Brando's voice-overs were used throughout the film.

Brando starred as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic ''Apocalypse Now''. Brando plays a highly decorated American Army Special Forces officer who goes renegade. He runs his own operations out of Cambodia and is feared by the US military as much as the Vietnamese. Brando was paid $1 million a week for his work.

Despite announcing his retirement from acting in 1980, he subsequently gave interesting supporting performances in movies such as ''A Dry White Season'' (for which he was again nominated for an Oscar in 1989), ''The Freshman'' in 1990 and ''Don Juan DeMarco'' in 1995. In his last film, ''The Score'' (2001), he starred with fellow method actor Robert De Niro. Some later performances, such as ''The Island of Dr Moreau'' (1996), earned Brando some of the most uncomplimentary reviews of his career.

Brando conceived the idea of a novel called ''Fan-Tan'' with director Donald Cammell in 1979, which was not released until 2005.

In 2004, Brando signed with Tunisian film director Ridha Behion and began pre-production on a project to be titled ''Brando and Brando''. Up to a week before his death, Brando was working on the script in anticipation of a July/August 2004 start date. Production was suspended in July 2004 following Brando's death, at which time Behi stated that he would continue the film as an homage to Brando, with a new title of ''Citizen Brando''.

Personal life

Relationships and family

In ''Songs My Mother Taught Me'', Brando claimed he met Marilyn Monroe at a party as she played piano, unnoticed by anybody else there, and they had an affair and maintained an intermittent relationship for many years, receiving a telephone call from her several days before she died. He also claimed numerous other romances, although he did not discuss his marriages, his wives, or his children in his autobiography.

Brando married actress Anna Kashfi in 1957. Kashfi was born in Calcutta and moved to Wales from India in 1947. She is said to have been the daughter of a Welsh steel worker of Irish descent, William O'Callaghan, who had been superintendent on the Indian State railways. However, in her book, ''Brando for Breakfast'', she claimed that she really is half Indian and that the press incorrectly thought that her stepfather, O'Callaghan, was her real father. She said her real father was Indian and that she was the result of an "unregistered alliance" between her parents. In 1959, Brando and Kashfi divorced after the birth of their son, Christian Brando, on May 11, 1958.

In 1960, Brando married Movita Castaneda, a Mexican-American actress seven years his senior; they were divorced in 1962. Castaneda had appeared in the first ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' film in 1935, some 27 years before the 1962 remake with Brando as Fletcher Christian. Brando's behavior during the filming of ''Bounty'' seemed to bolster his reputation as a difficult star. He was blamed for a change in director and a runaway budget, though he disclaimed responsibility for either.

The ''Bounty'' experience affected Brando's life in a profound way. He fell in love with Tahiti and its people. He bought a twelve-island atoll, Tetiaroa, which he intended to make partly an environmental laboratory and partly a resort. Tahitian beauty Tarita Teriipia, who played Fletcher Christian's love interest, became Brando's third wife on August 10, 1962. She was 20 years old, 18 years younger than Brando. A 1961 article on Teriipia in the fan magazine ''Motion Picture'' described Brando's delight at how naïve and unsophisticated she was. Because Teriipia was a native French speaker, Brando became fluent in the language and gave numerous interviews in French. Teriipia became the mother of two of his children. They divorced in July 1972. Brando eventually had a hotel built on Tetiaroa. It went through many redesigns as a result of changes demanded by Brando over the years. It is now closed. A new hotel, consisting of thirty deluxe villas, was planned.

Brando was an active ham radio operator, with the call signs KE6PZH and FO5GJ (the latter from his island). He was listed in the FCC records as Martin Brandeaux to preserve his privacy.

;Children

by Anna Kashfi:

* Christian Devi Brando (aka Gary Brown; May 11, 1958 – January 26, 2008, died of pneumonia)

by Movita Castaneda

* Miko Castaneda Brando (b. 1960)

* Rebecca Brando (b. 1966)

by Tarita Teriipia:

* Simon Teihotu Brando (b. 1963) – the only inhabitant of Tetiaroa

* Tarita Cheyenne Brando (1970–1995), committed suicide by hanging

adopted:

* Petra Brando-Corval (b. 1972), daughter of Brando's assistant Caroline Barrett and novelist James Clavell (aka Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavell)

by unidentified mothers:

Stefano Brando aka Stephen Blackehart (b. 1967)

* Maimiti Brando (b. 1977) She's the daughter of Tarita, but the father left them, so Brando adopted her.

* Raiatua Brando (b. 1982) She's the adoptive daughter of Tarita and Brando adopted her.

* Dylan Brando (1968–1988)

* Angelique Brando (unknown)

by his housekeeper, Maria Christina Ruiz:

* Ninna Priscilla Brando (b. May 13, 1989)

* Myles Jonathan Brando (b. January 16, 1992)

* Timothy Gahan Brando (b. January 6, 1994)

;Grandchildren

Michael Brando (b.1988)

Tuki Brando (b. 1990)

In May 1990, Dag Drollet, the Tahitian lover of Brando's daughter Cheyenne, died of a gunshot wound after a confrontation with Cheyenne's half-brother Christian at the family's hilltop home above Beverly Hills. Christian, then 31 years old, claimed he was drunk and the shooting was accidental.

After heavily publicized pre-trial proceedings, Christian pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and use of a gun. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Before the sentence, Brando delivered an hour of testimony, in which he said he and his former wife had failed Christian. He commented softly to members of the Drollet family: "I'm sorry... If I could trade places with Dag, I would. I'm prepared for the consequences." Afterward, Drollet's father said he thought Brando was acting and his son was "getting away with murder." The tragedy was compounded in 1995, when Cheyenne, suffering from lingering effects of a serious car accident and said to still be depressed over Drollet's death, committed suicide by hanging herself in Tahiti. Christian Brando died of pneumonia at age 49, on January 26, 2008.

Lifestyle

Brando became well known for his crusades for civil rights, Native American rights, and other political causes. He also earned a "bad boy" reputation for his public outbursts and antics. On June 12, 1973, Brando broke paparazzo Ron Galella's jaw. Galella had followed Brando, who was accompanied by talk show host Dick Cavett, after a taping of ''The Dick Cavett Show'' in New York City. He reportedly paid a $40,000 out-of-court settlement and suffered an infected hand as a result. Galella wore a football helmet the next time he photographed Brando at a gala benefiting the American Indians Development Association.

In an interview with Gary Carey, for his 1976 biography ''The Only Contender'', Brando said, "Homosexuality is so much in fashion it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing."

In 1992, he donated money to Michael Jackson to help start his Heal the World Foundation.

Final years and death

Brando's notoriety, his troubled family life, and his obesity attracted more attention than his late acting career. He gained a great deal of weight in the 1980s and by the mid 1990s he weighed over 300 lbs. (136 kg) and suffered from diabetes. Like Orson Welles or Elvis Presley, he had a history of weight fluctuations through his career, attributed to his years of stress-related overeating followed by compensatory dieting. He also earned a reputation for being difficult on the set, often unwilling or unable to memorize his lines and less interested in taking direction than in confronting the film director with odd demands. Brando also dabbled with some innovation in his last years. Brando had several patents issued in his name from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, all of which involve a method of tensioning drum heads, in June 2002 – November 2004. For example, see and its equivalents.

The actor was a longtime close friend of entertainer Michael Jackson and paid regular visits to his Neverland Ranch, resting there for weeks at a time. Brando also participated in the singer's two-day solo career thirtieth-anniversary celebration concerts in 2001, and starred in his 13-minute-long music video, "You Rock My World," in the same year. The actor's son, Miko, was Jackson's bodyguard and assistant for several years, and was a friend of the singer. He stated "The last time my father left his house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time... was with Michael Jackson. He loved it... He had a 24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help, 24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service." On Jackson's 30th anniversary concert, Brando gave a speech to the audience on humanitarian work which received a poor reaction from the audience and was unaired.

On July 1, 2004, Brando died, aged 80. He left behind eleven children as well as over thirty grandchildren. The cause of death was intentionally withheld, his lawyer citing privacy concerns. It was later revealed that he had died at UCLA Medical Center of respiratory failure brought on by pulmonary fibrosis. He also suffered from congestive heart failure, failing eyesight caused by diabetes, and liver cancer. Before his death and despite his ill-health, he recorded his voice to appear in ''The Godfather: The Game'', once again as Don Vito Corleone.

Karl Malden, Brando's fellow actor in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', ''On The Waterfront'', and ''One-Eyed Jacks'' (the only film directed by Brando), talks in a documentary accompanying the DVD of ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' about a phone call he received from Brando shortly before Brando's death. A distressed Brando told Malden he kept falling over. Malden wanted to come over, but Brando put him off telling him there was no point. Three weeks later, Brando was dead. Shortly before his death, Brando had apparently refused permission for tubes carrying oxygen to be inserted into his lungs, which, he was told, was the only way to prolong his life.

Brando was cremated, and his ashes were put in with those of his childhood friend Wally Cox and another friend. They were then scattered partly in Tahiti and partly in Death Valley.

In 2007, a 165-minute biopic of Brando, ''Brando: The Documentary'', produced by Mike Medavoy (the executor of Brando's will) for Turner Classic Movies, was released.

Politics

Civil rights

In 1946, Brando showed his dedication to the Jewish desire for a homeland by performing in Ben Hecht's Zionist play "A Flag is Born." Brando's involvement had an impact on three of the most contentious issues of the early postwar period: the fight to establish a Jewish state, the smuggling of Holocaust survivors to Israel, and the battle against racial segregation in the United States.

Brando attended some fundraisers for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.

In August 1963, Brando participated in the March on Washington along with fellow celebrities Harry Belafonte, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster, and Sidney Poitier. Brando also, along with Paul Newman, participated in the freedom rides.

In the aftermath of the 1968 slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Brando made one of the strongest commitments to furthering Dr. King's work. Shortly after Dr. King's death, Brando announced that he was bowing out of the lead role of a major film (''The Arrangement'') which was about to begin production, in order to devote himself to the civil rights movement. "I felt I’d better go find out where it is; what it is to be black in this country; what this rage is all about," Brando said on the late night ABC-TV ''Joey Bishop Show''.

The actor's participation in the African-American civil rights movement actually began well before King's death. In the early 1960s Brando contributed thousands of dollars to both the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) and to a scholarship fund established for the children of slain Mississippi N.A.A.C.P. leader Medgar Evers. By this time, Brando was already involved in films that carried messages about human rights: "Sayonara," which addressed interracial romance, and "The Ugly American," depicting the conduct of US officials abroad and its deleterious effect on the citizens of foreign countries. For a time Brando was also donating money to the Black Panther Party and considered himself a friend of founder Bobby Seale. However, Brando ended his financial support for the group over his perception of its increasing radicalization, specifically a passage in a Panther pamphlet put out by Eldridge Cleaver advocating indiscriminate violence, "for the Revolution."

At the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony, Brando refused to accept the Oscar for his performance in The Godfather. Sacheen Littlefeather represented Mr. Brando at the ceremony. She appeared in full Apache clothing. She stated that owing to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry" Mr. Brando would not accept the award. At this time the 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee occurred, causing rising tensions between the government and Native American activists. The event grabbed the attention of the US and the world media. This was considered a major event and victory for the movement by its supporters and participants.

Outside of his film work, Brando not only appeared before the California Assembly in support of a fair housing law, but personally joined picket lines in demonstrations protesting discrimination in housing developments.

Comments on Jews, Hollywood, and Israel

In an interview in ''Playboy'' magazine in January 1979, Brando said: "You've seen every single race besmirched, but you never saw an image of the kike because the Jews were ever so watchful for that—and rightly so. They never allowed it to be shown on screen. The Jews have done so much for the world that, I suppose, you get extra disappointed because they didn't pay attention to that."

Brando made a similar comment on ''Larry King Live'' in April 1996, saying "Hollywood is run by Jews; it is owned by Jews, and they should have a greater sensitivity about the issue of—of people who are suffering. Because they've exploited—we have seen the—we have seen the Nigger and Greaseball, we've seen the Chink, we've seen the slit-eyed dangerous Jap, we have seen the wily Filipino, we've seen everything but we never saw the Kike. Because they knew perfectly well, that that is where you draw the wagons around." King, who is Jewish, replied, "When you say—when you say something like that you are playing right in, though, to anti-Semitic people who say the Jews are—" at which point Brando interrupted. "No, no, because I will be the first one who will appraise the Jews honestly and say 'Thank God for the Jews.'"

Jay Kanter, Brando's agent, producer and friend defended him in ''Daily Variety'': "Marlon has spoken to me for hours about his fondness for the Jewish people, and he is a well-known supporter of Israel." Similarly, Louie Kemp, in his article for ''Jewish Journal'', wrote: "You might remember him as Don Vito Corleone, Stanley Kowalski or the eerie Col. Walter E. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now," but I remember Marlon Brando as a mensch and a personal friend of the Jewish people when they needed it most." Brando was also a major donor to the Irgun, a Zionist political-paramilitary group.

In an interview with ''NBC Today'' one day after Brando's death, Larry King also defended Brando's comments saying that they were out of proportion and taken out of context.

Legacy

Brando is widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential actors of the 20th century. Largely credited for popularizing the "method" acting style, he has earned great respect among critics and theatre experts for his memorable performances and charismatic screen presence. In the book ''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia, ''edited by Philip C. DiMare, James Delmont wrote: "Marlon Brando was arguably the finest screen actor of the twentieth century, winning worldwide acceptance as both a movie star of the first rank and as a performer of uncommon skill." Richard Schickel felt that: "As a movie actor he [Brando] has no peer in this generation. That he consistently underplays, yet still packs more emotion into a scene than anyone else, is a sign of a charisma that may be an act of God." Similarly, film critic Roger Ebert, writing of his iconic performance in ''Last Tango in Paris'', said: "This was the greatest movie actor of his time, the author of performances that do honor to the cinema." Tennessee Williams, among the many who acknowledged his finesse, described Brando as "the greatest living actor ever... greater than [Laurence] Olivier." Laurence Olivier himself said: "Brando acted with an empathy and an instinctual understanding that not even the greatest technical performers could possibly match." In a 2007 ''Best Life'' article, praising his performance in ''On the Waterfront'', Rob Reiner wrote: "Marlon Brando gives the single greatest performance ever. It's just so natural, powerful, real, and honest."

Marlon Brando is a cultural icon whose popularity has endured for over six decades. Brando's rise to national attention in the 1950s had a profound effect on the motion picture industry and influenced the broader scope of American culture. According to film critic Pauline Kael, "[Marlon] Brando represented a reaction against the post-war mania for security. As a protagonist, the Brando of the early fifties had no code, only his instincts. He was a development from the gangster leader and the outlaw. He was antisocial because he knew society was crap; he was a hero to youth because he was strong enough not to take the crap ... Brando represented a contemporary version of the free American ... Brando is still the most exciting American actor on the screen." Sociologist Dr. Suzanne Mcdonald-Walker states: "Marlon Brando, sporting leather jacket, jeans, and moody glare, became a cultural icon summing up 'the road' in all its maverick glory." His portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler in ''The Wild One'' has become an iconic image, used both as a symbol of rebelliousness and a fashion accessory that includes a Perfecto style motorcycle jacket, a tilted cap, jeans and sunglasses. Johnny's haircut inspired a craze for sideburns, followed by James Dean and Elvis Presley, among others. Dean copied Brando's acting style extensively and Presley used him as a model for his role in ''Jailhouse Rock''. The "I coulda been a contenda" scene from ''On the Waterfront'', according to the author of ''Brooklyn Boomer'', Martin H. Levinson, is "one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history and the line itself has become part of America's cultural lexicon."

Brando's estate still earns about $9,000,000 per year, according to ''Forbes''. He was named one of the top-earning dead celebrities in the world by the magazine.

Filmography

Honors, awards and nominations

Brando was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of ''Time'' magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century. He was also named one of the top 10 "Icons of the Century" by ''Variety'' magazine.

References

Bibliography

Bain, David Haward. ''The Old Iron Road: An Epic of Rails, Roads, and the Urge to Go West''. New York: Penguin Books, 2004. ISBN 0-14303-526-6.

Bosworth, Patricia. ''Marlon Brando''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. ISBN 0-297-84284-6.

Brando, Anna Kashfi and E.P. Stein. ''Brando for Breakfast''. New York: Crown Publishers, 1979. ISBN 0-517-53686-2.

Brando, Marlon and Donald Cammell. ''Fan-Tan''. New York: Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-40004-471-5.

Brando, Marlon and Robert Lindsey. ''Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me''. New York: Random House, 1994. ISBN 0-67941-013-9.

Pierpont, Claudia Roth. ''Method Man''. ''New Yorker'', October 27, 2008.

External links

The Oddfather, ''Rolling Stone'', Jod Kaftan, April 25, 2002

Court TV: Christian Brando: A Hollywood Family Tragedy

Vanity Fair: ''The King Who Would Be Man'' by Budd Schulberg

Marlon Brando: Never-Seen Portraits – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

The New Yorker: ''The Duke in His Domain'' – Truman Capote's influential 1957 interview.

Obituaries

Marlon Brando, Oscar-Winning Actor, Is Dead at 80

Obituary from ''The Washington Post''

Obituary at Slate

MSNBC: Marlon Brando dies in Los Angeles hospital

Long article on auction of Brando's possessions at ''The Observer'' (UK)

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