George Cukor Overview:

Legendary director, George Cukor, was born George Dewey Cukor on Jul 7, 1899 in New York City, NY. Cukor died at the age of 83 on Jan 24, 1983 in Los Angeles, CA and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn (Glendale) Cemetery in Glendale, CA.

MINI BIO:

Despite an obvious predilection (and talent) for extracting the maximum warmth and character from major female stars, George Cukor stubbornly resisted the attempts of many critics to pigeonhole his talent. He created many films with characters one cares about, despite an often artificial setting, and all of his pictures were major studio (mostly MGM) productions.

He worked in the theatre from 1919, initially as stage manager, then as director from 1923. Brought to Hollywood in 1929 more or less as a dialogue director, Cukor's reputation as a 'woman's director' began in 1932 with What Price Hollywood, a scathing look at the film capital with Constance Bennett, and A Bill of Divorcement which introduced Katharine Hepburn. The Cukor/Hepburn association continued to flower in films such as Little Women, Holiday, Adam's Rib, The Philadelphia Story and Pat and Mike. Cukor also extracted above-average performances from Jean Harlow (in Dinner at Eight), Claudette Colbert (in Zaca), Joan Crawford (in a Woman's Face), Ingrid Bergman (in Gaslight), Judy Holliday (in Born Yesterday) and Judy Garland (in A Star is Born).

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Directors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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George Cukor was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Director for My Fair Lady in 1964.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1932/33Best DirectorLittle Women (1933)N/ANominated
1940Best DirectorThe Philadelphia Story (1940)N/ANominated
1947Best DirectorA Double Life (1947)N/ANominated
1950Best DirectorBorn Yesterday (1950)N/ANominated
1964Best DirectorMy Fair Lady (1964)N/AWon
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He was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures.

BlogHub Articles:

A Pair That Cooked Food for Thoughts: ‘Born Yesterday’ (, 1950)

By Virginie Pronovost on Apr 17, 2026 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

“A world full of ignorant people is too dangerous to live in.” – Paul Verrall, Born Yesterday We often remember the 1951 Oscars for being “The year where Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson didn’t win the Best Actress Oscar”. Instead, the Academy presented the prestig... Read full article


Adam’s Rib (1949, )

By Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 11, 2019 From The Stop Button

Adam?s Rib has a great script (by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin), but outside director Cukor not being as energetic as he could be?he might?ve been able to compensate?the script is the biggest problem with the film. There are the really obvious problems, like when Spencer Tracy gets reduced to a supp... Read full article


Adam’s Rib (1949, )

By Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 11, 2019 From The Stop Button

Adam?s Rib has a great script (by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin), but outside director Cukor not being as energetic as he could be?he might?ve been able to compensate?the script is the biggest problem with the film. There are the really obvious problems, like when Spencer Tracy gets reduced to a supp... Read full article


Adam’s Rib (1949, )

on Oct 11, 2019 From The Stop Button

Adam?s Rib has a great script (by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin), but outside director Cukor not being as energetic as he could be?he might?ve been able to compensate?the script is the biggest problem with the film. There are the really obvious problems, like when Spencer Tracy gets reduced to a supp... Read full article


Adam’s Rib (1949, )

on Oct 11, 2019 From The Stop Button

Adam?s Rib has a great script (by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin), but outside director Cukor not being as energetic as he could be?he might?ve been able to compensate?the script is the biggest problem with the film. There are the really obvious problems, like when Spencer Tracy gets reduced to a supp... Read full article


See all articles

George Cukor Quotes:

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George Cukor on the
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George Cukor Facts
Was voted the 18th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

He was largely responsible for the ultimate look of the characters in the film The Wizard of Oz (1939). Richard Thorpe, the film's first director, had decided on how the makeup should look, and had made some rather catastrophic decisions (see Buddy Ebsen). He was eventually fired, and during a stopover at the film's set, Cukor gave some directorial suggestions (such as removing Judy Garland's blonde wig), which ultimately were used in the finished film.

Did a few days work as intermediate director on The Wizard of Oz (1939) (although he never actually filmed any scenes) after original director Richard Thorpe had been dismissed. Victor Fleming was eventually hired to direct the picture. Coincidentally, Cukor's next film, Gone with the Wind (1939), also went on to be directed by Fleming after Cukor was fired due to disagreements with the film's producer, David O. Selznick.

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