As a child, Cukor appeared in several amateur plays and took dance lessons, and at the age of seven he performed in a recital with David O. Selznick, who in later years would become a mentor and friend.

and Z. evolved into the Cukor-Kondolf Stock Company, a troupe that included Louis Calhern, Ilka Chase, Phyllis Povah, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Elizabeth Patterson and Douglass Montgomery, all of whom would work with Cukor in later years in Hollywood.

In later years Cukor suspected his homosexuality impeded him from receiving any advances or honors, although rumors to that effect could not be confirmed.

During this era, Cukor forged an alliance with screenwriters Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, who had met in Cukor's home in 1939 and married three years later.

Two years later, Cukor achieved one of his greatest successes with My Fair Lady.

* What Price Hollywood ?, a 1932 film with similarities to the 1937 & later films, also directed by George Cukor

Tracy initially resisted playing such an unsympathetic character but later told Cukor, " It's rather disconcerting to me to find out how easily I play a heel.

The studio handed it to Loos and veteran scriptwriter Jane Murfin, and three weeks later Loos handed Cukor a script he loved.

A year later he appeared in Darryl F. Zanuck's movie version of Winged Victory, directed by George Cukor.

Of course, Cukor realized later that the film stock itself was the problem, not the cinematographer, and used him in a number of other films later on.

Cukor later directed the 1954 musical remake starring Judy Garland.

When Hollywood began to recruit New York theater talent for sound films, Cukor immediately answered the call.

Selznick fought to remain true to the novel's origins and prevailed, and the role went to Freddie Batholomew after an extensive talent search in Canada and Great Britain by Selznick and George Cukor.

George Cukor She had a talent that few actresses or actors possess.

George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983 ) was an American film director.

Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of New York City, the younger child and only son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants Victor, an assistant district attorney, and Helen Ilona ( née Gross ) Cukor.

Therefore, the Cukor family, subscribing to the norm of their country of origin, was not a Yiddish speaking household.

The family was not particularly religious, pork was a staple on the dinner table, and when he started attending temple as a boy, Cukor learned Hebrew phonetically, with no real understanding of the meaning of the words or what they represented.

As a teenager, Cukor frequently was taken to the New York Hippodrome by his uncle.

Following his graduation in 1917, Cukor was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and pursue a career in law.

" For the next several decades, Davis claimed she was fired, and although Cukor never understood why she placed so much importance on an incident he considered so minor, he never worked with her again.

Cukor was then assigned to One Hour With You ( 1932 ), an operetta with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, when original director Ernst Lubitsch opted to concentrate on producing the film instead.

Cukor was hired to direct Gone with the Wind by Selznick in 1936, even before the book was published.

" I think the biggest black mark against our management to date is the Cukor situation and we can no longer be sentimental about it .... We are a business concern and not patrons of the arts ..." Cukor was relieved of his duties, but he continued to work with Leigh and De Havilland off the set.

The remainder of the decade was a series of hits and misses for Cukor.

In December 1952, Cukor was approached by Sid Luft, who proposed the director helm a musical remake of the 1937 film A Star is Born with his then-wife Judy Garland in the lead role.

Cukor had declined to direct the earlier film because it was too similar to his 1932 What Price Hollywood ?, but the opportunity to direct his first Technicolor film, first musical, and work with screenwriter Moss Hart and especially Garland appealed to him, and he accepted.

Cukor wanted Cary Grant for the male lead and went so far as to read the entire script with him, but Grant, while agreeing it was the role of a lifetime, steadfastly refused to do it, and Cukor never forgave him.

As the months passed, Cukor was forced to deal not only with constant script changes but a very unstable leading lady, who was plagued by chemical and alcohol dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses.

In March 1954, a rough cut still missing several musical numbers was assembled, and Cukor had mixed feelings about it.

When the last scene finally was filmed in the early morning hours of July 28, 1954, Cukor already had departed the production and was unwinding in Europe.

The director, George Cukor, concurred and praised Leigh's " incredible wildness "; she secured her role as Scarlett soon after.

After viewing Leigh's screen test, Selznick noted that " she doesn't seem right as to sincerity or age or innocence ", a view shared by Hitchcock and Leigh's mentor, George Cukor.

In 1939, she was cast as catty gossip Sylvia Fowler in the all-female comedy The Women, directed by George Cukor.

" George Cukor said that she had " in common with the great comedians ... that depth of emotion, that unexpectedly touching emotion, that thing which would unexpectedly touch your heart.

Loos was apprehensive, but Cukor insisted she do the changes on set, amongst his all-star bevy of leading ladies.

Initial screen tests convinced him and the director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test.

Shortly after her marriage, Kulp moved to Hollywood, California to work in a studio publicity department, but director George Cukor convinced her that she should work in front of the camera.

Cukor had seen Hepburn's screen test and was impressed by the 24-year-old, but Selznick did not like the way she looked and was afraid she would not be well received by audiences.

At a studio meeting, Cukor strongly endorsed her dismissal, and she was released from the project on June 8 1962.

In 1970 she received word from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that George Cukor, supported by others, was petitioning the Academy to nominate her for best actress for her work in Trash, however, nothing came of this campaign.