Newsday Theatre Critic Allan Wallach Has Died at 88

Newsday reports that entertainment editor and theatre critic Allan Wallach passed away at his home in Manhattan last week. He was 88.

Writes Newsday, "The elder Wallach is remembered for his quick wit, generosity and gentle spirit. His abiding life passion was the theater, said his son Mark Wallach of Los Angeles. Long after retiring, Allan Wallach saw hundreds of shows and continued to enjoy the arts."

"Allan was the opposite of every negative stereotype of theater critics," current Newsday theater critic Linda Winer adds. "He was a gentleman, soft-spoken and thoughtful, but with very strong opinions and an open mind."

Wallach was born in 1927 in the Bronx, enrolling in a magnet high school in Queens. He joined the Navy in 1946 and wrote manuals for submarines, after which he attended Syracuse University. He got married in 1953 and moved to Connecticut where he took a job as a reporter for the New Haven Register for a short time. In the late '50s, they relocated to Huntington Station, where Wallach took up his first job at Newsday, a job which lasted for 30 years. Wallach served as reporter, theatre critic, and entertainment editor, interviewing Broadway legends, and penning many reviews. His final piece was published in 2000. Even in his retirement, he enjoyed frequenting the arts.

Source: Newsday