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Trivia

Highly influential and respected drama critic of the New York Times from 1925 to 1960.

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 West 47th Street (Broadway and Eighth Avenue) was re-named the Brooks Atkinson Theater in 1960 after his retirement as the Times drama critic.

Probably the most influential drama critic in the U.S., he worked for the New York Times from 1925 until 1942, 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 1962, received a Special Tony Award, identifying him as "retired drama critic of the New York Times."

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 22-24. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

Personal Quotes

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.

... at the Brooks Atkinson Theater.

Brooks Atkinson Theatre