Known for his ability to elicit great performances, American film director George Cukor (1899-1983) was a stylistic craftsman who made elegant comedies and dramas from the 1930s through the 1960s. He won an Academy Award in 1964 for directing the musical My Fair Lady.

Theatrically trained, Cukor liked to stage his movies with an emphasis on character, dialogue, and emotion, and a minimum of cinematic tricks or special effects. Rarely working with original material, Cukor preferred to interpret literary classics. His best films were smooth dramas and slick comedies with strong female leads and polished story lines, known in the trade as "women's pictures." He was nominated five times for Academy Awards for his directing.

From Stage to Screen

Cukor was born in New York City on July 7, 1899. His parents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants who worked in the legal profession. As a teenager, Cukor started acting in plays. After...