Martin Gottfried (October 9, 1933 – March 6, 2014) was an American critic, columnist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Biography
Early career Gottfried was a 1959 graduate of Columbia College in New York City,"Bookshelf", Columbia College Today archive, college.columbia.edu, retrieved January 26, 2010 and attended Columbia Law School for three semesters, next spending one year with U.S. Army Military Intelligence. Gottfried began his writing career as the classical music critic for The Village Voice, doubling as an off-Broadway reviewer for Women's Wear Daily, a position that made him the youngest member of the New York Drama Critics Circle in the organization's history.Nathan Award winners, arts.cornell.edu, retrieved January 26, 2010
In 1968, Little, Brown and Company published his first book, A Theater Divided, a study of post-World War II American theater. The book won the highest honor in dramatic criticism, the George Jean Nathan Award. In 1970 Putnam published Opening Nights, a collection of his essays.Opening Nights listing, amazon.ca, retrieved January 26, 2010 By then, he had become a regular contributor to the Arts and Leisure section of The New York Times''' Sunday edition.
Drama critic and educator In 1974, he became the drama critic for the New York Post. Four years later, he "Americanized" the West End musical Bar Mitzvah Boy for an off-Broadway production.Gussow, Mel. "Stage: 'Bar Mitzvah Boy,' With Music By Jule Styne", The New York Times, June 11, 1987
In 1979, Gottfried began writing for the Saturday Review, the same year Harry N. Abrams, Inc. published his Broadway Musicals.Broadway musicals (1984). Abradale Press. ; originally published by H. N. Abrams, 1979, In 1991, it was joined by a sequel, More Broadway Musicals. and "In Person," a tribute to performing artists.
As drama critic for the New York Law Journal, Gottfried conducted a series of "Conversations" at the 92nd Street Y as well as at the New School of Social Research and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Participants included Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Harold Prince, Jane Alexander, Christopher Walken and Richard Dreyfuss. Gottfried also was a contributor to The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Vogue, the Yale Drama Review and Condé Nast Traveler. He also wrote regular articles on the performing arts for Stagebill, the program distributed in theaters and concert halls across America.
He was a guest professor of theater at the Columbia University School of the Arts, Carnegie-Mellon University, Rutgers University and the Colorado College, as well as a Visiting Artist/Professor at the College of Santa Fe.
He died of complications of pneumonia at the age of 80 on March 6, 2014, in Manhattan. He was married to Jane Lahr,"Gottfried, Martin 1933- ." Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. . Retrieved November 15, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/gottfried-martin-1933 daughter of Bert Lahr and sister of John Lahr.
Author Gottfried's writings include biographies of Sondheim,Gottfried, Martin. Sondheim, amazon.com, retrieved January 26, 2010 Arthur Miller,Gottfried, Martin. Arthur Miller: His Life and Work (2004). Da Capo Press, Jed Harris,Gottfried, Martin. Jed Harris, the Curse of Genius (1984). Little, Brown. Bob Fosse,Gottfried, Martin. All His Jazz (2003), Da Capo Press, Danny Kaye,Gottfried, Martin. Nobody's Fool (2002), Simon and Schuster. George Burns,Gottfried, Martin. George Burns and the Hundred-Year Dash (1996). Simon and Schuster. and Angela Lansbury.Gottfried, Martin. Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury (2000). Kensington Pub. Corp. His latest book, co-written with Bill Condon and Cheo Coker, is Dreamgirls The Movie Musical, published in April 2007.Dreamgirls, newmarketpress.com, retrieved January 26, 2010
A review of Arthur Miller: His Life and Work'' called the book a "thorough and revealing biography".Evans, Everett."The life of a playwright", chron.com, January 2, 2004
References
External links
Gottfried Biography prenhall.com Bibliography Gottfried Biography faber.co.uk