Walter Kerr
Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, generally on the subject of theater and cinema.
For the Royal Navy officer, see Lord Walter Kerr. For the Scottish rugby union player, see Walter Kerr (rugby union). For the Scottish engineer, antiquary and amateur archaeologist, see Walter Hume Kerr.
Walter Kerr
Walter Francis Kerr
July 8, 1913
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
October 9, 1996 (aged 83)
Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S.
- Theatre critic
- playwright
- director
- lyricist
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Biography[edit]
Kerr was born in Evanston, Illinois, and earned both a B.A. and M.A. from Northwestern University.,[1] after graduation from St. George H.S. also in Evanston.
He was a regular film critic for the St. George High School newspaper while a student there, and was also a critic for the Evanston News Index. He was the editor of the high school newspaper and yearbook.[2] He taught speech and drama at The Catholic University of America.[3]
After writing criticism for Commonweal he became a theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune in 1951. When that paper folded, he then began writing theater reviews for The New York Times in 1966, writing for the next seventeen years.[1] During this time, Kerr lived in New Rochelle, NY in the same house Norman Rockwell lived in. [4]
He married fellow writer Jean Kerr (née Collins) on August 9, 1943. Together, they wrote the musical Goldilocks (1958), which won two Tony Awards. They also collaborated on Touch and Go (1949) and King of Hearts (1954).[5] They had six children.[6]
Kerr died from congestive heart failure on October 9, 1996.[6]
He was portrayed pseudonymously by David Niven in the 1960 film Please Don't Eat the Daisies, based on Jean Kerr's best-selling collection of humorous essays.
Awards and honors[edit]
Walter Kerr won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1978 for "articles on the theater".[20]
In 1983, Kerr was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[21]
In 1990, the former Ritz Theater on West 48th Street in the Theater District, New York was renamed the Walter Kerr Theatre in his honor.[22]
Books (selected)
Broadway
Other