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Pauline Kael(1919-2001)

  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was born in Petaluma, CA, in 1919, and attended the University of California at Berkeley in the 1930s. She tried and failed to work as a playwright in her 20s, and began writing film reviews as a freelance writer for film journals in the 1950s. After success with national magazines in the 1960s and publishing her first book, "I Lost It At the Movies,", she became a film critic for The New Yorker in 1968, and wrote for that magazine until 1991. She published 13 books of her essays and criticism, and won the National Book Award in 1974, and wielded power and influence, even after retiring. She passed away on September 3, 2001.
BornJune 19, 1919
DiedSeptember 3, 2001(82)
BornJune 19, 1919
DiedSeptember 3, 2001(82)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 6 wins total

Photos7

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+ 3
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Known for

Citizen Kael
Short
  • Writer
  • 2020
Natalie Wood and Jacques Sernas in Camera Three (1954)
Camera Three
6.3
TV Series
  • Self
Elwy Yost in Talking Film (1978)
Talking Film
7.2
TV Series
  • Self
Daphne Lilly Anstey in The Magical Eye (1989)
The Magical Eye
  • Self - Film Critic, The New Yorker
  • 1989

Credits

IMDbPro

Writer



  • Citizen Kael
    Short
    • Writer
    • 2020
  • Love & Money (1981)
    Love & Money
    4.3
    • collaboration (uncredited)
    • 1981

Personal details

  • Height
    • 5′ (1.52 m)
  • Born
    • June 19, 1919
    • Petaluma, California, USA
  • Died
    • September 3, 2001
    • Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA(Parkinson's disease)
  • Spouse
    • Edward LandbergDecember 22, 1955 - April 7, 1959 (divorced)
  • Children
    • Gina James
  • Parents
      Isaac Paul Kael
  • Relatives
      William James Friedman(Grandchild)
  • Other works
    Book: "I Lost It at the Movies" (Little, Brown & Co.)
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 1 Interview
    • 6 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

  • Trivia
    Her first piece of film criticism for "The New Yorker" was a glowing review of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), written at a time when several critics were panning the film. Her review may have led to the film's eventual box office success and many Academy Award nominations the following year.
  • Quotes
    The words "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", which I saw on an Italian movie poster, are perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies.
  • Trademarks
      Razor-sharp writing.
  • Nickname
    • The Bird Woman Of Petaluma

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