Garson Kanin Biography

Fast Facts

• Inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1985
• Quote: "I want everybody to be smart․ As smart as they can be․ A world of ignorant people is too dangerous to live in․"
• Quote: "A movie star is a creation, the substance of which, like a painting or a statue or a symphony, does not age․"
• After establishing himself in the theater world on the East Coast during his early years, he would eventually travel to Hollywood to begin work with both television and film, although he often recalled not enjoying the vanity of Los Angeles
• Following his graduation from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he began acting on Broadway before landing the job of assistant to legendary stage director George Abbott, a job that would segue into a directing career of his own
• His 1980 best-selling novel "Smash" was later produced into an NBC series of the same name in 2012
• He and Katharine Hepburn were the only witnesses to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh's nuptials in 1940
• His first wife was 16 years his senior, while his second wife was 16 years his junior
• In 1950, he was paid a then-record breaking amount of $1,000,000 by Columbia Pictures for the rights of his hottest Broadway play, "Born Yesterday"