Gadg
The director of my favorite movie is dead at the age of 94.
Elia (“Gadg”) Kazan was not an uncontroversial figure. He cooperated with the House Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities in 1952, naming the names of a handful of people with whom he had been a member of the Communist Party. He subsequently received five Oscar nominations, winning once, and was similarly honored by juries at the Cannes Film Festival, Directors Guild of America, and the Golden Globe awards.
But much of the audience at the 1999 Academy Awards was incensed to see him receive an honorary award, “In appreciation of a long, distinguished, and unparalleled career during which he has influenced the very nature of filmmaking through his creation of cinematic masterpieces.” Kazan left the podium after delivering only a few words of thanks in front of an icy crowd. You’d have thought he was Leni Riefenstahl or something. 
