George Cukor

 

Photo James Stewart + Cary Grant + Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia storyPhoto of Joan CrawfordPhoto of Katharine Hepburn in Holiday

Biography

George Cukor

Photo of George Cukor

Congratulations

This week it would have been mr Cukor's 109th birthday.

Remarkable:

Cukor was fired from the production of Gone with the wind. The reason however was not clear; Three possibilities:
1. Clark Gable was uncomfortable with Cukor’s homosexuality.
2. Cukor had constant disagreements with producer David O. Selznick over the script and direction.
3. Cukor quit the film himself because of numerous production delays.

Born:

July 7, 1899

Born as:

George Dewey Cukor

Died:

January 24, 1983

George entered the theater professionally in 1919 as an assistant stage manager. The following year he became resident director of a stock company and by 1926 he was directing on Broadway.

In 1929 George went to Hollywood to become a dialogue director. Cukor became a solo director with Tarnished Lady (1931). Shortly thereafter, Cukor met legendary producer David O. Selznick, then working for RKO. Their professional association began with A Bill of Divorcement (1932) which introduced Katharine Hepburn to the white sceen.

At the end of the thirties Cukor had established a reputation as a director who could coax great performances from actresses and he began known as a “woman's director”, a title which he resented.

In 1939 he was assigned by Selznick to Gone With the Wind but was fired 10 days after the start of production. George was able to bounce back with two successive triumphs, The women (1939) and The Philadelphia story (1940).

The 1940s was a decade of hits and misses for Cukor but in the fifties he was back with Adam's rib (1949) and the musical A star is born (1954). Another musical was also his biggest hit of the '60s: My Fair Lady (1964).

George directed sporadicly during the seventies and eighties and made his last film in 1981.

Academy awards:

1965 Won Oscar for: My Fair Lady (1964)
1951 Nominated for: Born Yesterday (1950)
1948 Nominated for: A Double Life (1947)
1941 Nominated for: The Philadelphia Story (1940)
1934 Nominated for: Little Women (1933)

Selected movies:

 

Photo of Gladys Cooper + Rex Harison + Audrey Hepburn + Wilfrid Hyde-White

Congratulations

It would have been Mr. Cukor`s 109th birthday within 2 days.

Trivia

Cukor was fired from the production of Gone with the wind. The reason however was not clear; Three possibilities:
1. Clark Gable was uncomfortable with Cukor’s homosexuality.
2. Cukor had constant disagreements with producer David O. Selznick over the script and direction.
3. Cukor quit the film himself because of numerous production delays. Source / More (Book)

Cukor is an Hungarian name and translates as “Sugar”.

In the early eighties Cukor lobbied for the AFI’s (American Film Institute) Life Achievement Award. He didn’t get it, probably because Cukor was considered a “woman’s director”. Source / More (Web)

Director Cukor was fired while filming Gone with the wind but afterward both Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland asked him every night what they should do with their scenes for the next day’s shooting. Source / More (Book)