WALTER KERR
Name: Walter Kerr
Born: 8 July 1913
Died: 9 October 1996
Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 - October 9, 1996) was an American writer and
Broadway theater critic. He also was a writer, lyricist, and director of several
Broadway musicals.
Kerr was born in Evanston, Illinois and graduated from Northwestern University.
He became a theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune in 1951, then began
writing theater reviews for the New York Times in 1966. He wrote for the New
York Times for seventeen years. Kerr won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1978.
In 1990, the old Ritz theater on West 48th Street was renamed the Walter Kerr
Theatre in his honor.
Kerr's books include:
How Not to Write a Play (1955)
Criticism and Censorship (1957)
Pieces at Eight (1958)
The Decline of Pleasure (1962)
The Theatre in Spite of Itself (1963)
Tragedy and Comedy (1967)
Thirty Plays Hath November (1969)
God on the Gymnasium Floor (1971)
The Silent Clowns (1975)
His wife, Jean Kerr, was also a writer. 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).
Name: Walter Kerr
Born: 8 July 1913
Died: 9 October 1996
Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 - October 9, 1996) was an American writer and
Broadway theater critic. He also was a writer, lyricist, and director of several
Broadway musicals.
Kerr was born in Evanston, Illinois and graduated from Northwestern University.
He became a theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune in 1951, then began
writing theater reviews for the New York Times in 1966. He wrote for the New
York Times for seventeen years. Kerr won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1978.
In 1990, the old Ritz theater on West 48th Street was renamed the Walter Kerr
Theatre in his honor.
Kerr's books include:
How Not to Write a Play (1955)
Criticism and Censorship (1957)
Pieces at Eight (1958)
The Decline of Pleasure (1962)
The Theatre in Spite of Itself (1963)
Tragedy and Comedy (1967)
Thirty Plays Hath November (1969)
God on the Gymnasium Floor (1971)
The Silent Clowns (1975)
His wife, Jean Kerr, was also a writer. 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).