Molly Day Kazan (; Thacher; December 16, 1906 – December 14, 1963) was an American dramatist and the first wife of influential film director Elia Kazan.

Biography

Molly Day Thacher was born in South Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Emma Cecelia (née Erkenbrecher) and Alfred Beaumont Thacher, a lawyer. Her grandparents were Elizabeth (Day) and Thomas Anthony Thacher, a

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and college administrator. Her uncle,

Thomas Thacher Thomas Thacher (May 3, 1850 – July 30, 1919) was an American lawyer. Life Thomas Thacher was born in New Haven, Connecticut on May 3, 1850. He was a descendant of the Rev. Peter Thacher, the rector of St. Edmonds, Salisbury, England; and of hi ...

, was a lawyer. Elia Kazan

Kazan graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

and attended the

Yale Drama School The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

for two years, where she met Elia Kazan. Molly was dating Elia's friend and roommate Alan Baxter at the time, until Molly left Baxter for Elia. Molly and Elia Kazan married in 1932. Molly Day Kazan was the head of the playwriting division of Actors Studio for several years before resigning in May 1962. In 1949, she wrote the book for a musical titled "

Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...

". She wrote the play ''The Egghead'' in 1957, which ran for twenty-one performances on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

at the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...

. The play was directed by

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

. She wrote the

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in wri ...

s ''Rosemary'', and ''The Alligator'' in 1960. Elia had numerous

extramarital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

s which caused serious rifts with Molly, including with

Constance Dowling Constance Dowling (July 24, 1920 – October 28, 1969) was an American model turned actress of the 1940s and 1950s. Early life and career Born in New York City, Dowling was a model and chorus girl before moving to California in 1943. She had ...

and

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. Elia has also been characterized as a narcissist, having written to Molly after admitting to the affair with Monroe, "If you divorce me, I'll tell you plainly I will in time get married again and have more children. I feel I'm a family man and I want a family, and am a damned good one. I dont care what your judgment is on that. I think I see the world around me (us) a hell of a lot more clearly than you do or anyone else does for that matter." Despite this, the couple stayed together, and Molly was very influential on his professional life. She died on December 14, 1963, two days before her 57th birthday, in

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

following a cerebral hemorrhage.''Theatre World (Season 1962–1963)'' obituary. Library of Congress Catalog Card #46-13321. Her funeral was held at St. Clement's Protestant Episcopal Church with over 400 people in attendance. She was survived by her husband and four children, including the playwright

Nicholas Kazan Nicholas Kazan (; born September 15, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. Early life Kazan was born in New York, the son of Greek-American director Elia Kazan and his first wife, playwright Molly Kazan (née Mary Da ...

. Her granddaughters are the actresses Zoe and

Maya Kazan Maya Kazan (; born November 24, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Eleanor Gallinger on the television series'' The Knick'' (2014–2015). Personal life Kazan is the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Rob ...

References

External links

Notable Kin: New England in Hollywood, Part II: Behind the Scenes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazan, Molly 1906 births 1963 deaths Writers from New York City 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Kazan family

Biography

References

Further reading

External links