Kanin, Garson

Related Category: American Literature: Biographies

(kā´nən), 1912–99, American director and writer, b. Rochester, N.Y.; grad. American Academy of Dramatic Arts, 1933. He worked as a saxophonist, comedian, and actor before becoming (1935) an assistant to director George Abbott. During the following years he wrote or directed more than 30 plays and nearly 30 films. Kanin's Broadway hits included the comedy Born Yesterday (1946), which he also wrote, the drama The Diary of Anne Frank (1955), and the musical Funny Girl (1964). In Hollywood he specialized in light comedy, directing movies that included My Favorite Wife (1940) and such Spencer Tracy–Katherine Hepburn vehicles as Adams Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952), both written with his wife, the actress Ruth Gordon. Kanin also wrote novels, short stories, television scripts, and the memoirs Remembering Mr. Maugham (1966), Tracy and Hepburn (1971), and Hollywood (1974).