The Resume

(May 12, 1925-November 24, 2019)
Contributed theater and film criticism to 'National Review,' 'New York' magazine, 'Esquire,' 'The New York Times' and the 'New Leader'
Wrote 'Private Screenings (1971),' 'Movies Into Film (1972),' 'Ingmar Bergman Directs (1972),' 'Reverse Angle (1981)' and 'Acid Test (1988)'

Why he might be annoying:

He is stuffy, rude and arrogant.
In his reviews, he stoops to personal attacks and cracks about people's looks.
Some say he has unfair influence over a play's success.
David Mamet called him and fellow critic Frank Rich 'the syphilis and gonorrhea of the theater.'
He is hypocritical, praising some performers for things he derides in others.
He said to director Atom Egoyan: 'I have seen at least 12 versions of this play, all more touching than yours - was this deliberate, or just incompetence on your part?'
He complains about how horrible modern popular culture is.

Why he might not be annoying:

He has an encyclopedia-like knowledge of theater, film and literature.
He can speak and read many languages.
He is great with a put down.
He said Diana Rigg was 'built like a brick mausoleum with insufficient flying buttresses.'
When a couple brought noisy children to a play, he stood up and screamed, shut up.
The actress Sylvia Miles once dumped a plate of pasta on his head in public.
Most of his books are out of print, but nobody seems to care.

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Dick Cavett Show Guests
• Egg Heads
• Film Critics
• I Died in 2019 (Ranked: 94)
• I Made a Scene on The Dick Cavett Show
• Look at My Book Cover
• Pauline Kael Doesn't Like Me
• Profiles 12251-12500 (Ranked: 12446)
• Satirists and Wits
• Served in World War II
• Supersized Egos
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20191124)
• Wieland Kalligaro's Profiles [Series 3]

Year In Review:

In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 20 Votes: 10.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 52 Votes: 55.77% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 73.68% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 17 Votes: 82.35% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 61 Votes: 65.57% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 236 Votes: 77.97% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 79 Votes: 70.89% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 119 Votes: 68.07% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 247 Votes: 69.64% Annoying
In 2004, Out of 127 Votes: 83.46% Annoying