GEORGE CUKOR
Name: George Dewey Cukor
Born: 7 July 1899 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died: 24 January 1983 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
George Dewey Cukor (July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film
director. Cukor's career flourished at RKO Studios where he directed a string of
impressive films including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932),
Dinner at Eight (1933), Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and
Juliet (1936), and Camille (1937).
Cukor was born in New York City to Hungarian Jewish immigrants, Victor F. and
Helen (Gross) Cukor. As a teenager, he was infatuated with theater and often cut
classes to attend afternoon matinees. Following his graduation from De Witt
Clinton High School in 1916, he spent a year with the Students Army Training
Corps. He then obtained a job as an assistant stage manager for a Chicago
theater company. After gaining three years of experience, he formed his own
stock company in Rochester, New York in 1920, and worked there for seven years.
He then returned to Broadway where he worked with such formidable actresses as
Ethel Barrymore, Dorothy Gish, Estelle Winwood, and Jeanne Eagels.
When Hollywood began to recruit New York theater talent for sound films, Cukor
answered their call and moved there in 1929. His first job was as a dialog
director at Paramount Pictures for the film River of Romance (1929), followed by
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) at Universal Pictures. He then co-directed
three films at Paramount before making his solo debut directing Tallulah
Bankhead in Tarnished Lady (1931). Cukor left Paramount after a legal dispute
resulting from his dismissal from an earlier Paramount film, One Hour With You (1932),
and went to work with David O. Selznick at RKO Studios.
Cukor's career flourished at RKO where he directed a string of impressive films
including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Dinner at
Eight (1933), Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936),
and Camille (1937).
By this time, Cukor had established a reputation as a director who could coax
great performances from actresses and he became known as a "woman's director," a
title which he resented. One of Cukor's first ingenues was actress Katharine
Hepburn, who debuted in A Bill of Divorcement and whose looks and personality
left RKO officials at a loss as to how to use her. Cukor ended up directing her
in her most successful films and they became close friends off the set.
Cukor was hired to direct Gone with the Wind by David O. Selznick in 1937 and he
spent two years with pre-production duties as well as spending long hours
coaching Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland, the film's stars. Cukor was
replaced after less than three weeks of shooting, but continued to coach Leigh
and De Havilland off the set.
Following the Gone with the Wind debacle, Cukor directed The Women (1939), a
popular film notable for its all female cast and The Philadelphia Story (1940)
starring Katharine Hepburn. He also directed another of his favorite actresses,
Greta Garbo, in Two Faced Woman (1941), her last film before she retired from
the screen.
The 1940s was a decade of hits and misses for Cukor. He was off track with Two
Faced Woman as well as Her Cardboard Lover (1942) starring Norma Shearer.
However, he did achieve more success with films such as A Woman's Face (1941)
with Joan Crawford, Gaslight (1944) with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, and
Adam's Rib (1949) with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
Cukor's reputation as an actor's director continued as he helped several actors
win Academy Awards. James Stewart won a Best Actor Oscar for The Philadelphia
Story, Ronald Colman won a Best Actor Oscar for A Double Life (1947) and Judy
Holliday won for Best Actress for Born Yesterday (1950}. In 1954, Cukor made his
first film in color, A Star Is Born which featured an impressive come-back
performance by Judy Garland. He directed the ill-fated Something's Got to Give
in 1962. Progress on the film was arduous throughout, and Cukor's relationship
with the film's star, Marilyn Monroe, was consistently difficult and he was
openly hostile towards her. Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home
several months after the production began and the film was never completed. Two
years later, Cukor won an Academy Award himself, for Best Director, for My Fair
Lady (1964), for which Rex Harrison also won a Best Actor Oscar.
He continued to work into his 80s and directed his last film, Rich And Famous (1981)
with Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen.
It was an "open secret" in Hollywood that Cukor was homosexual. Cukor was also a
celebrated bon vivant; during the heyday of Hollywood his home was the site of
weekly Sunday parties and his guests knew that they would always find
interesting company, good food, and a beautiful atmosphere when they visited.
Cukor's friends were of paramount importance to him and he kept his home filled
with their photographs. Regular attendees at his soirées included Katharine
Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. , Lauren
Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Laurence
Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Richard Cromwell, Judy Garland, Gene Tierney, Noel
Coward, Cole Porter, James Whale, Edith Head, and Norma Shearer, especially
after the death of her first husband, Irving Thalberg.
George Cukor died on January 24, 1983 at the age of 83. He was interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Name: George Dewey Cukor
Born: 7 July 1899 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died: 24 January 1983 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
George Dewey Cukor (July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film
director. Cukor's career flourished at RKO Studios where he directed a string of
impressive films including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932),
Dinner at Eight (1933), Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and
Juliet (1936), and Camille (1937).
Cukor was born in New York City to Hungarian Jewish immigrants, Victor F. and
Helen (Gross) Cukor. As a teenager, he was infatuated with theater and often cut
classes to attend afternoon matinees. Following his graduation from De Witt
Clinton High School in 1916, he spent a year with the Students Army Training
Corps. He then obtained a job as an assistant stage manager for a Chicago
theater company. After gaining three years of experience, he formed his own
stock company in Rochester, New York in 1920, and worked there for seven years.
He then returned to Broadway where he worked with such formidable actresses as
Ethel Barrymore, Dorothy Gish, Estelle Winwood, and Jeanne Eagels.
When Hollywood began to recruit New York theater talent for sound films, Cukor
answered their call and moved there in 1929. His first job was as a dialog
director at Paramount Pictures for the film River of Romance (1929), followed by
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) at Universal Pictures. He then co-directed
three films at Paramount before making his solo debut directing Tallulah
Bankhead in Tarnished Lady (1931). Cukor left Paramount after a legal dispute
resulting from his dismissal from an earlier Paramount film, One Hour With You (1932),
and went to work with David O. Selznick at RKO Studios.
Cukor's career flourished at RKO where he directed a string of impressive films
including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Dinner at
Eight (1933), Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936),
and Camille (1937).
By this time, Cukor had established a reputation as a director who could coax
great performances from actresses and he became known as a "woman's director," a
title which he resented. One of Cukor's first ingenues was actress Katharine
Hepburn, who debuted in A Bill of Divorcement and whose looks and personality
left RKO officials at a loss as to how to use her. Cukor ended up directing her
in her most successful films and they became close friends off the set.
Cukor was hired to direct Gone with the Wind by David O. Selznick in 1937 and he
spent two years with pre-production duties as well as spending long hours
coaching Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland, the film's stars. Cukor was
replaced after less than three weeks of shooting, but continued to coach Leigh
and De Havilland off the set.
Following the Gone with the Wind debacle, Cukor directed The Women (1939), a
popular film notable for its all female cast and The Philadelphia Story (1940)
starring Katharine Hepburn. He also directed another of his favorite actresses,
Greta Garbo, in Two Faced Woman (1941), her last film before she retired from
the screen.
The 1940s was a decade of hits and misses for Cukor. He was off track with Two
Faced Woman as well as Her Cardboard Lover (1942) starring Norma Shearer.
However, he did achieve more success with films such as A Woman's Face (1941)
with Joan Crawford, Gaslight (1944) with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, and
Adam's Rib (1949) with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
Cukor's reputation as an actor's director continued as he helped several actors
win Academy Awards. James Stewart won a Best Actor Oscar for The Philadelphia
Story, Ronald Colman won a Best Actor Oscar for A Double Life (1947) and Judy
Holliday won for Best Actress for Born Yesterday (1950}. In 1954, Cukor made his
first film in color, A Star Is Born which featured an impressive come-back
performance by Judy Garland. He directed the ill-fated Something's Got to Give
in 1962. Progress on the film was arduous throughout, and Cukor's relationship
with the film's star, Marilyn Monroe, was consistently difficult and he was
openly hostile towards her. Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home
several months after the production began and the film was never completed. Two
years later, Cukor won an Academy Award himself, for Best Director, for My Fair
Lady (1964), for which Rex Harrison also won a Best Actor Oscar.
He continued to work into his 80s and directed his last film, Rich And Famous (1981)
with Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen.
It was an "open secret" in Hollywood that Cukor was homosexual. Cukor was also a
celebrated bon vivant; during the heyday of Hollywood his home was the site of
weekly Sunday parties and his guests knew that they would always find
interesting company, good food, and a beautiful atmosphere when they visited.
Cukor's friends were of paramount importance to him and he kept his home filled
with their photographs. Regular attendees at his soirées included Katharine
Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. , Lauren
Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Laurence
Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Richard Cromwell, Judy Garland, Gene Tierney, Noel
Coward, Cole Porter, James Whale, Edith Head, and Norma Shearer, especially
after the death of her first husband, Irving Thalberg.
George Cukor died on January 24, 1983 at the age of 83. He was interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.