Elia Kazan was an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is best known for his films 'On the Waterfront' and 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. He was also a recipient of the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1909 and immigrated to the United States in 1923. He began his career as a stage director in the 1930s and 1940s before transitioning to film directing in the 1950s. He was known for his ability to bring out powerful performances from his actors and for his use of location shooting. He died in 2003 at the age of 94.