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George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director.〔Obituary ''Variety'', January 26, 1983.〕 He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of Production, assigned Cukor to direct several of RKO's major films, including ''What Price Hollywood?'' (1932), ''A Bill of Divorcement'' (1932), ''Our Betters'' (1933), and ''Little Women'' (1933). When Selznick moved to MGM in 1933, Cukor followed and directed ''Dinner at Eight'' (1933) and ''David Copperfield'' (1935) for Selznick and ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1936) and ''Camille'' (1936) for Irving Thalberg. He was replaced as the director of ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), but he went on to direct ''The Philadelphia Story'' (1940), ''Gaslight'' (1944), ''Adam's Rib'' (1949), ''Born Yesterday'' (1950), ''A Star Is Born'' (1954), ''Bhowani Junction'' (1956) and ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). He continued to work into the 1980s. ==Early life== Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, the younger child and only son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants Viktor, an assistant district attorney, and Helén Ilona Gross (Cukor Viktorné). His parents selected his middle name in honor of Spanish–American War hero George Dewey. The family was not particularly religious, pork was a staple on the dinner table, and when he started attending temple as a boy, Cukor learned Hebrew phonetically, with no real understanding of the meaning of the words or what they represented. As a result, he was ambivalent about his faith and dismissive of old world traditions from childhood, and as an adult he embraced Anglophilia to remove himself even further from his roots.〔McGilligan, Patrick, ''George Cukor: A Double Life''. New York: St. Martin's Press 1991. ISBN 0-312-05419-X, pp. 5–6.〕 As a child, Cukor appeared in several amateur plays and took dance lessons, and at the age of seven he performed in a recital with David O. Selznick, who in later years would become a mentor and friend.〔McGilligan, p. 11.〕 As a teenager, Cukor frequently was taken to the New York Hippodrome by his uncle. Infatuated with theatre, he often cut classes at DeWitt Clinton High School to attend afternoon matinees.〔Kipen, David. ("Flawed look at career of blacklisted director" ), ''San Francisco Chronicle'', August 29, 2001. Accessed September 14, 2009. "The American 20th century went to high school at DeWitt Clinton High in the Bronx. Multicultural before there was a name for it – at least a polite one --Clinton nurtured such diverse and influential figures as Bill Graham, James Baldwin, George Cukor, Neil Simon and Abraham Lincoln Polonsky."〕〔McGilligan, p. 10.〕 During his senior year, he worked as a supernumerary with the Metropolitan Opera, earning 50¢ per appearance, and $1 if he was required to perform in blackface.〔Levy, Emanuel, ''George Cukor: Master of Elegance''. New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc. 1994. ISBN 0-688-11246-3, pp. 26–27.〕 Following his graduation in 1917, Cukor was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and pursue a career in law. He halfheartedly enrolled in the City College of New York, where he entered the Students Army Training Corps in October 1918. His military experience was limited; Germany surrendered in early November, and Cukor's duty ended after only two months. Shortly after, he left school.〔McGilligan, p. 19.〕 Cukor obtained a job as an assistant stage manager and bit player with a touring production of ''The Better 'Ole'', a popular British musical based on Old Bill, a cartoon character created by Bruce Bairnsfather.〔McGilligan, p. 21.〕 In 1920, he became the stage manager for the Knickerbocker Players, a troupe that shuttled between Syracuse and Rochester, New York, and the following year he was hired as general manager of the newly formed Lyceum Players, an upstate summer stock company. In 1925 he formed the C.F. and Z. Production Company with Walter Folmer and John Zwicki, which gave him his first opportunity to direct.〔Levy, pp. 33–34.〕〔McGilligan, pp. 34–35.〕 Following their first season, he made his Broadway directorial debut with ''Antonia'' by Hungarian playwright Melchior Lengyel, then returned to Rochester, where C.F. and Z. evolved into the Cukor-Kondolf Stock Company, a troupe that included Louis Calhern, Ilka Chase, Phyllis Povah, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Elizabeth Patterson and Douglass Montgomery, all of whom would work with Cukor in later years in Hollywood.〔McGilligan, pp. 36–41.〕 Lasting only one season with the company was Bette Davis. Cukor later recalled, "Her talent was apparent, but she did buck at direction. She had her own ideas, and though she only did bits and ingenue roles, she didn't hesitate to express them." For the next several decades, Davis claimed she was fired, and although Cukor never understood why she placed so much importance on an incident he considered so minor, he never worked with her again.〔Levy, pp. 36–37.〕 For the next few years, Cukor alternated between Rochester in the summer months and Broadway in the winter. His direction of a 1926 stage adaptation of ''The Great Gatsby'' by Owen Davis brought him to the attention of the New York critics. Writing in the ''Brooklyn Eagle'', drama critic Arthur Pollock called it "an unusual piece of work by a director not nearly so well known as he should be."〔McGilligan, p. 53.〕 Cukor directed six more Broadway productions before departing for Hollywood in 1929. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Cukor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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