Biography

Brooks Atkinson

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Brooks Atkinson was born on November 28, 1894 in Melrose, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Play of the Week (1959), The Iceman Cometh (1960) and The March of Time, Vol. 15, No. 1: On Stage! (1949). He was married to Oriana MacIlveen. He died on January 14, 1984 in Huntsville, Alabama, USA.

Highly influential and respected drama critic of the "New York Times" from 1925-60.
Has a theatre named after him in New York.
Received a Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for his series of articles on the situation in the war-torn Soviet Union.
The 34-year-old Mansfield Theater at 256 W. 47th St. (Broadway and 8trh Av.) was renamed the Brooks Atkinson Theater in 1960 after his retirement as the "New York TImes" theatre critic.
Probably the most influential drama critic in the US, he worked for the "New York Times" from 1925-42, when he requested and received assignment as a war correspondent. Resumed his position as drama critic in 1946 and remained in that job until 1960, when he became a critic at large. He was critic at large until his retirement in 1965.

In every age 'the good old days' were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them.
People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.
Vaudeville is a specialized technique that cannot be trifled with. Far from being an inferior form of entertainment, as some people snobbishly assume, it is a distinctive style with laws of its own. Fundamentally, it requires performers magnetic enough to dominate an enclosed area on s stage. They must be so exuberant or skillful that they can capture an audience's attention instantly and hold it until the act is over. Vaudeville is a form of free, bold, crisp and dynamic showmanship. Since it died, one devilish mechanical device has crept into show business that is completely anti-vaudeville in effect. The microphone freezes everyone who stands behind it.

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