Garson Kanin was an American writer and director of plays and films.
18 Facts About Garson Kanin
2.
Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City.
3.
Garson Kanin attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, dropping out to take up a career on the theatre stage.
4.
Garson Kanin subsequently became a professional saxophone player and leader of his own band that went by the name Garson Kanin and His Red Hot Peppers.
5.
Garson Kanin began his show-business career as a jazz musician, burlesque comedian, and actor.
6.
Garson Kanin graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made his Broadway debut in Little Ol' Boy.
7.
In 1935, Kanin was cast in a George Abbott play and soon became Abbott's assistant.
8.
Garson Kanin made his Broadway debut as a director in 1936, at the age of 24, with Hitch Your Wagon.
9.
In 1945, Garson Kanin directed Spencer Tracy in Tracy's first play in 15 years.
10.
Garson Kanin's 1946 play Born Yesterday, which he directed, ran for 1,642 performances.
11.
Garson Kanin wrote and directed his last play, Peccadillo, in 1985, the same year he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
12.
Garson Kanin's first film as a director was A Man to Remember, which The New York Times considered one of the 10 best films of 1938.
13.
Garson Kanin's other directing credits include The Great Man Votes, My Favorite Wife, They Knew What They Wanted, and Tom, Dick, and Harry.
14.
Garson Kanin served in the United States Army from 1941 to 1945.
15.
Garson Kanin's best-remembered screenplays were written in collaboration with his wife, actress Ruth Gordon, whom he married in 1942.
16.
Garson Kanin's best-selling novel Smash, about the pre-Broadway tryout of a musical comedy, was inspired by his experience directing the 1964 musical Funny Girl and was adapted into the 2012 television series Smash.
17.
Garson Kanin was a colleague of Thornton Wilder, who mentored him, and an admirer of the work of Frank Capra.
18.
Garson Kanin was married to his frequent collaborator, Academy Award-winning actress Ruth Gordon from 1942 to her death in 1985.