Theatre Critic and Writer Martin Gottfried Passes Away at 80

The New York Times reports that theatre critic and writer Martin Gottfried passed away on Thursday, March 6, 2014, due to complications of pneumonia. He was 80.

Read the original report here.

Gottfried was the chief drama critic for Women's Wear Daily in the '60s and was a promoter of off-Broadway and other experimental theatre.

His first book of criticism, published in 1968 and titled A Theater Divided: The Postwar American Stage, argued that the gap between nontraditional and classic theatre made the whole artistic community stale. It went on to win Gottfried the George Jean Nathan Award for dramatic criticism.

Next, in 1979, Gottfried wrote Broadway Musicals, which examined the various elements that work together to create a show, including lyrics, design and production, with chapters on "masters" of the craft such as Gershwin. He published a sequel, More Broadway Musicals, in 1991.

Gottfried also authored a series of biographies on entertainers including Jed Harris, Bob Fosse, George Burns, Arthur Miller and more.

His writings have appeared in The Village Voice, The New York Times, Vogue and Conde Nast Traveler.

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