Elia Kazan

Birth Name: Elia Kazantzoglou

Date of Birth: September 7, 1909

Place of Birth: Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey)

Date of Death: September 28, 2003

Place of Death: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.

Ethnicity: Greek

Elia Kazan was a Greek-American director, producer, writer, and actor. He twice won the Academy Award for Best Director, for Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954).

He was born in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey), the son of Athena (Shishmanoglou/Sismanozlon/Sismanoglou) and George Kazantzoglou. His father was born in Kaiseri and his mother was born in Istanbul. The family moved to the U.S. when Elia was four years old. George and Athena were Cappadocian Greeks. Cappadocian Greeks are people of Greek background who are native to the Cappadocia region of Central-eastern Anatolia, modern Turkey.

Elia was married to English author Frances Kazan, until his death. He had four children with his first wife, playwright Molly Day Thacher, and a son with his second wife, actress Barbara Loden, to whom he was married until her death.

Screenwriter and filmmaker Nicholas Kazan is among Elia’s children with Molly. Elia’s granddaughters are actresses Zoe Kazan and Maya Kazan.

Elia’s paternal grandfather was named Elia Kazantzoglou.

Elia’s maternal grandfather was named Isaak Shishmanoglou.

Elia’s maternal grandmother was named Anna Karajosifoglou.

Sources: Genealogy of Elia Kazan – https://www.geni.com

Elia Kazan: A Life – autobiography by Elia Kazan, 1988