Director, producer, screenwriter and novelist Elia Kazan grew up in this house according to the 1930 U.S. census. He won two Academy Awards for Best Director, 1947's "Gentleman's Agreement" and 1954's "On the Waterfront." Kazan also received an honorary Academy Award in 1999. Controversy followed Kazan to the grave for his participation in the 1950's House Un-American Activities Committee. After initially refusing to name associates from his brief membership in the Communist Party of the United States, Kazan relented in 1952. He passed away in 2003.