GuestbookGarson Kanin Estate2022-07-05T06:40:15+00:00

Guestbook

We’ve created this guestbook with the hopes that friends and fans of Garson Kanin and his work can share their personal stories, memories, and inspiration. All posts are subject to moderation and editing prior to publishing.

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Garson Kanin

The Official Page of the Garson Kanin Estate. www.garsonkanin.com

Garson Kanin

1 month ago

❤️❤️❤️Garson Kanin has worked as an actor on stage and as a director on Broadway and in Hollywood, but his best-known work is as a writer. During the Great Depression, he dropped out of high school to help support his family by working as a musician and later as a comedian. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1932 to 1933. He briefly worked as an actor on Broadway following his studies but then worked as an assistant to the Broadway director George Abbot. In 1937, he joined Samuel Goldwyn’s staff but left after a year because he had not been given any directing assignments. He was signed by RKO and there directed such films as "The Great Man Votes" (1939) and "Tom, Dick and Harry" (1941), but he soon became frustrated by the lack of control he had over his films under the studio system. When he was drafted during World War II, he made documentary films for the War Information and Emergency Manpower offices. One of them, co-directed by Carol Reed, "The True Glory" (1945), won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.During the war years, Kanin began writing stories and plays as well. After the war, he directed his play "Born Yesterday" on Broadway, which he later adapted for the screen.It is inevitable that the writer be subservient to the director. In the early days of Hollywood, films were made by a small team that included only a director and a man with a camera. As filmmaking became more complex and sophisticated, people were hired to write scripts, but never were they considered other than hired talent. It was not unusual to hear directors refer to a screenwriter as ‘my writer.’ This tradition exists to this day. I know of no writer who as a writer has gotten into the driver’s seat during the shooting of a film although many fine writers have subsequently gone into directing."Kanin and his wife, Ruth Gordon (below), collaborated on four screenplays, including "Adam’s Rib" (1949) and "Pat and Mike" (1952). They stopped working on scripts together for the sake of their marriage after 1952, but in 1979 they co-wrote one more, the TV film "Hardhat and Legs." Kanin and Gordon were never under contract by any studio as writers. They wrote the scripts on their own and sold them to interested Hollywood studios.Kanin wrote a book about his friendship with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn ("Tracy and Hepburn: An Intimate Memoir"). Hepburn saw this as a deep betrayal, and didn’t speak with Kanin for many years. (IMDb)Happy Birthday, Garson Kanin!
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Garson Kanin

1 month ago

Harold And Maude – I should like to change into a sunflower Scene
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Harold And Maude – I should like to change into a sunflower Scene

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reincarnation/Demolition/Recycle/Circle of life scenes

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Garson Kanin

1 month ago

Ruth and her pal, Elsa Lanchester, in a radio broadcast from 83 years ago tomorrow, August 31st:www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/drama/columbia-workshop/columbia-workshop-41-08-31-017-mary-and-the…
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Columbia Workshop 017 Mary And The Fairy | Columbia Workshop | Drama | Old Time Radio Downloads

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Garson Kanin
shared a memory.

1 month ago

The anniversary of Ruth Gordon’s passing.
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3 Years Ago

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Garson Kanin

1 month ago

💜💜💜“She’s a lovely dame, and I use that term with respect. I like dames—they’re regal and tough and real. I never believed that a play of mine had opened or happened until I saw her lovely black hair and alabaster face at my dressing-room door. At that point it was official! Her generosity is remarkable. Do you remember Olive Deering? That poor actress who was Alfred Ryder’s sister? Well, Olive fell on hard times and pretty much took up residence on them, and she never had any money. I gave her money; everybody gave her money. Well, I went to see Marian in something and when we walked out of the stage door, there was Olive, looking pathetic and wan, and Marian reached into her purse and handed her an envelope, with Olive’s name written in that tiny handwriting of hers. I asked about it at dinner. ‘Oh, darling,’ Marian said. ‘I’m so lucky to be working and being paid well, and Olive needs it.’ Olive Deering came to that stage door every week on payday and got her envelope. For years! That took my breath away. And Olive Deering was not the only one.”—Kim Hunter on Marian SeldesHappy Birthday, Marian Seldes.
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