George Cukor

by Patrick McGilligan

"One of the highest-paid studio contract directors of his time, George Cukor was nominated five times for an Academy Award as Best Director. In publicity and mystique he was dubbed the "women's director" for guiding the most sensitive leading ladies to immortal performances, including Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Judy Garland, and--in ten films, among them The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib--his lifelong friend and collaborator Katharine Hepburn. But behind the "women's director" label lurked the open secret that set Cukor apart from a generally macho fraternity of directors: he was a...