Posts Tagged ‘Theatre’

Media Center: ‘Selected Letters of Elia Kazan’

April 10th, 2014

WHO: Elia Kazan

WHAT: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF ELIA KAZAN,
edited by Albert J. Devlin with Marlene J. Devlin

WHEN: Published by Knopf April 24, 2014

WHERE: Broadway and Hollywood.

WHY: “This engrossing collection chronicles the acclaimed director’s life and work.
“Kazan (1909–2003) directed both plays and movies, winning Tony Awards, Oscars and many other awards. He also wrote a handful of novels and more than 1,200 letters. The Devlins have judiciously chosen 300, providing an informative context of theater and film history spiced with a hefty dose of gossip.
“Kazan’s correspondents feature a prominent cast of producers, actors and playwrights, as well as his wife and children. He wrote to John D. Rockefeller III about establishing Lincoln Center’s Repertory Theatre, of which Kazan became co-director; to John Steinbeck about the filming of his novel East of Eden (1955), with the unknown actor James Dean; to writer Budd Schulberg, explaining why Marlon Brando was ‘WRONG’ for On the Waterfront (Kazan considered the very young Paul Newman: ‘This boy will definitely be a film star’).
“The letters reveal Kazan as restless, opinionated and fiercely ambitious. ‘I always had a great thirst for knowledge,’ he wrote when he was 23. ‘When I was younger I actually had a fear that some kid would know more about some subject than I did. I tried to know everything about everything.’ That fear persisted: When he was 45, he confessed to having ‘very large self doubts, especially on an intellectual level.’ His doubts, though, did not deter him from challenging projects, including Thornton Wilder’s enigmatic The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) and Arthur Miller’s All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949) and After the Fall (1964). He was Tennessee Williams’ director of choice, beginning with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1956) and Sweet Bird of Youth (1960). Copious letters to his wife reveal both his passion for his work and his many affairs (one with the ‘touching pathetic waif’ Marilyn Monroe).
“An impressive work of scholarship, this collection offers a sweeping look at 60 years of American popular culture and an intimate portrait of one complex man whirling at its center.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS

“A history of the golden age of Broadway and Hollywood as seen through the eyes of a man who irrevocably transformed both industries.”
—Julian Sancton, DEPARTURES

Jacket photoFrom the beginning of the book: Letters are a pure form of autobiography. Those written by Elia Kazan and selected for publication begin in 1925 with an adolescent complaint of paternal authority and conclude sixty-odd years later with a father’s reaffirmation of love for his five children. The intervening letters tell the story of an actor-director who trained in the Group Theatre, brought artistic rigor to Broadway, collaborated with major writers, testified as a former communist before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, inspired a generation of young actors, filmed challenging subjects in remote locations, and codirected the new Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center.”

Media Resources: About the book | About the author | About the editors | Download the jacket | Download the author photo

Publicist for this title: Kathy Zuckerman | 212-572-2105 | kzuckerman@randomhouse.com