George Cukor

Photo of George Cukor

Born:

July 7, 1899

Born as:

George Dewey Cukor

Died:

January 24, 1983

Biography:

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 production1. 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 made his last film in 19812.

  1. Gone with the Wind (1939)
  2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  3. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
  4. My Fair Lady (1964)
  5. A Star Is Born (1954)
  6. Gaslight (1944)
  7. Holiday (1949)
  8. The Women (1939)
  9. Dinner at Eight (1933)
  10. Adam’s Rib (1949)

  • The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)
  • Girls About Town (1931)
  • One Hour with You (1932)
  • What Price Hollywood? (1932)
  • A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
  • Rockabye (1932)
  • The Animal Kingdom (1932)
  • Our Betters (1933)
  • Dinner at Eight (1933)
  • Little Women (1933)
  • Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
  • No More Ladies (1935)
  • Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
  • Romeo and Juliet (1936)
  • Camille (1936)
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
  • The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  • The Women (1939)
  • Gone with the Wind (1939)
  • Susan and God (1940)
  • The Philadelphia Story (1940)
  • Two-Faced Woman (1941)
  • Her Cardboard Lover (1942)
  • Keeper of the Flame (1942)
  • Gaslight (1944)
  • Winged Victory (1944)
  • Desire Me (1947)
  • A Double Life (1947)
  • Holiday (1949)
  • Edward, My Son (1949)
  • Adam’s Rib (1949)
  • A Life of Her Own (1950)
  • Born Yesterday (1950)
  • The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951)
  • The Marrying Kind (1952)
  • Pat and Mike (1952)
  • The Actress (1953)
  • It Should Happen to You (1954)
  • A Star Is Born (1954)
  • Bhowani Junction (1956)
  • Lust for Life (1956)
  • Les Girls (1957)
  • Wild Is the Wind (1957)
  • Hot Spell (1958)
  • Heller in Pink Tights (1960)
  • Song Without End (1960)
  • The Chapman Report (1962)
  • My Fair Lady (1964)
  • Justine (1969)
  • Travels with My Aunt (1972)
  • The Blue Bird (1976)
  • Rich and Famous (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)

Bibliography » Books:

Bibliography » Web:

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High-def digest - My fair lady on Blu-ray
The biography (book) `On Cukor` -