Matinee Classics - George Cukor Biography & Filmography

George Cukor DIRECTOR

PHOTOS

GEORGE CUKOR BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

George Cukor was born July 7, 1899 in New York City. He grew up in the big city, getting plenty of exposure to Broadway. He would attend plays regularly, eventually becoming an assistant stage manager for a Chicago Company. Later, he owned his own stock company in New York. In the 1920s, he began working in Hollywood as backstage crew for pictures like “River of Romance” (1929) and “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930). In 1930, he co-directed three films, “Grumpy”, “The Virtuous Sin”, and “The Royal Family of Broadway”. Cukor’s sole directorial debut came a year later with “Tarnished Lady” (1931). He was then assigned the operetta “One Hour with You” (1932) with another director, Ernst Lubitsch, although Lubitsch demanded Cukor be taken off of the credits. After his tiff with Lubitsch, Cukor decided to move over to RKO, where he stayed until 1935. This was when his career really started to take off.

“A Bill of Divorcement” (1932) was a hit, and also marked the debut of film actress Katharine Hepburn. Additionally, it began the beginning of a long working relationship between the two, as they worked on many of both of their most successful films. They operated together in eight pictures total. “Little Women” (1933), another film sensation in which Cukor was nominated for Best Director at the Oscars, was a coming of age drama that tracked the lives of four sisters. As well, their works include, but are not limited to, the romantic comedies “Sylvia Scarlett” (1935) and “Holiday” (1938), as well as the mystery “Keeper of the Flame” (1942). However, the director didn’t just work with Hepburn; he worked with many other female actresses, as many of his movies focused on a strong female lead. For this reason, Cukor was known as a ‘woman’s director’.

Cukor also directed the success “Dinner of Eight” (1933) at RKO, but settled down with MGM beginning with the romantic adventure “David Copperfield” in 1935. However, on occasion he would get lent out to assorted production companies. Some of his most popular products at MGM during the thirties include the Shakespearean classic “Romeo and Juliet” (1936), the biographical romance “Camille” (1937), and the hilarious star studded comedy “The Women” (1939). In 1939, Cukor was fired from “Gone With the Wind” (1939) over disagreements with producer David O. Selznick over the direction and script. Fortunately, soon after he released the Hepburn romantic comedy “The Philadelphia Story” (1940), and was nominated for a Best Director Oscar. The director followed up with other superb works such as the Joan Crawford “A Woman’s Face” (1941), Ingrid Bergman’s Academy Award winning “Gaslight” (1944), the Best Director Oscar nominated “A Double Life” (1947), the Tracy-Hepburn comedy “Adam’s Rib” (1949), and “Born Yesterday” (1950), in which he was, for the fourth time, nominated for an Academy Award.

In 1954 he directed the successful Judy Garland and James Mason musical “A Star is Born”. Ten years later, he worked on another sensational musical, “My Fair Lady” (1964). Finally, he received an Oscar win for his directorial skills in the latter. Until 1981 hit, Cukor continued to churn out numerous motion pictures. Some of his more popular features include “The Marrying Kind” (1952), “Pat and Mike” (1952), and “It Should Happen to You” (1954). As well, as all do, he directed some flops such as the Marilyn Monroe “Let’s Make Love” (1960) and pricey family adventure “The Blue Bird” (1976). He also ventured a bit into television, directing the TV movies “Love Among the Ruins” (1975) and “The Corn is Green” (1979). His final feature was the drama “Rich and Famous” (1981), although his video segment “Wild is the Wind” was featured in 2003’s “Barbra Streisand: The Movie Album”.

On January 24, 1983, Cukor passed away in Los Angeles, California, due to heart failure. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Filmography

2003 Barbra Streisand: The Movie Album

1981 Rich and Famous

1979 The Corn Is Green

1976 The Blue Bird

1975 Love Among the Ruins

1972 Travels with My Aunt

1969 Justine

1964 My Fair Lady

1962 The Chapman Report

1962 Something's Got to Give

1960 Let's Make Love

1960 Song Without End