George Cukor: Top Oscar Directors for Actors – 21 Nominations

William Holden, Oscar winner Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday

Known as a refined "woman's director," George Cukor has had his considerable output either relegated to the sidelines or simply dismissed by those who like their directors macho and their films male-centered. Not helping matters is the general perception that Cukor was merely a hired hand for the likes of David O. Selznick at RKO and Louis B. Mayer at MGM, not an auteur following a clear professional path. Except, of course, for the (assumed) fact that he was a woman's director — and we're back to square one.

In truth, George Cukor was one of the most remarkable directors of the studio era. Like Elia Kazan, Cukor served his apprenticeship in the theater, thus developing into an excellent actor's director. Actor's. Regardless of gender.

Because Cukor was gay, some have claimed that his sexual orientation explains his flair for directing actresses and for handling projects revolving around women and their issues. By having sex with guys, he is supposed to have somehow been more attuned to his "feminine" self, and thus able to bring out the best in Katharine Hepburn (10 times, including two made-for-TV movies), Joan Crawford (four times), Norma Shearer (three times), Greta Garbo (twice), Marie Dressler, Claudette Colbert, Jean Harlow, and Judy Garland.

Also, Greer Garson, Kay Francis, Lana Turner, Claire Bloom, Marilyn Monroe, Constance Bennett, Ina Claire, Rosalind Russell, Jeanne Crain, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Audrey Hepburn, Jean Simmons, Anna Magnani, and Teresa Wright.

And more: Lilyan Tashman, Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith, Judy Holliday, Sophia Loren, Ruth Hussey, Billie Burke, Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda, Glynis Johns, Thelma Ritter, Jacqueline Bisset, and Candice Bergen, among others.

The list is impressive, though one must remember that Cukor worked mostly at RKO and MGM, two studios that, while Cukor was under contract, relied heavily on the star power of their female stars. Other RKO and MGM contract directors, regardless of their sexual orientation, also had to handle star vehicles for Garbo and Crawford and Shearer and Hepburn and Harlow, and so on.

Additionally, the "gay sensibility" nonsense ignores the fact — and that is a fact — that Cukor was equally adept at directing male actors. Clark Gable may have gotten Cukor fired from the Gone with the Wind set, but the Oscar list on the next page includes Fredric March, Basil Rathbone, Charles Boyer, James Mason, Anthony Quinn, and no less than three male Oscar winners, James Stewart, Ronald Colman, and Rex Harrison.

Cukor also guided numerous other male stars, including Spencer Tracy (five times), Cary Grant (three times), John Barrymore (three times), William Holden, Melvyn Douglas, David Manners (above, with Katharine Hepburn in A Bill of Divorcement), Laurence Olivier, Jack Lemmon, Aldo Ray, Gene Kelly, and Brian Aherne.

Also, Edmund Lowe, Lionel Barrymore, Edmund Gwenn, Herbert Marshall, Broderick Crawford, Robert Taylor, Maurice Chevalier, Lew Ayres, W. C. Fields, Freddie Bartholomew, Joseph Cotten, Yves Montand, Anthony Franciosa, Edmond O'Brien.

And more: Anthony Perkins, Wallace Beery, Joel McCrea, Phillips Holmes, Paul Lukas, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton, Stewart Granger, Robert Mitchum, Dirk Bogarde, Lon McCallister, Steve Forrest, Peter Lawford, Scott Brady, Michael York, and Leslie Howard.

Perhaps by having sex with men, Cukor was able to absorb some of the masculine vibes of his partners. Or perhaps it takes a real man to do it with another. No matter.

Twenty-one performers — twelve actresses; nine actors — working under Cukor received Oscar nominations, including five winners — two actresses; three actors. Curiously, only one of Katharine Hepburn's 12 nominations were for a Cukor-directed performance: the spoiled socialite about to get remarried in The Philadelphia Story.

Cukor himself received five Best Direction nominations: Little Women, 1932-33; The Philadelphia Story, 1940; A Double Life, 1947; Born Yesterday, 1950; and My Fair Lady, 1964. He won for the last film.

Note: A version of this George Cukor article was initially posted in January 2007.