Frank Rich
Encyclopedia
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times
from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011. He held various positions with the Times—-in 1994 he became an op-ed
columnist, with his weekly essay appearing in the Sunday Week in Review section starting in April 2005.
On March 1, 2011 it was announced that he would be leaving the Times to become an essayist and editor-at-large for New York
magazine starting in June 2011.
, and attended public schools. He attended Harvard College
in Cambridge
, Massachusetts
. At Harvard, he became the editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson
, the university's daily student newspaper. Rich was an honorary Harvard College scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received a Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellowship. He graduated in 1971 with an A.B. magna cum laude in American history
and literature
.
for Time
and the New York Post
, and film critic and senior editor of New Times Magazine
. In the early 1970s, he was a founding editor of the Richmond (Va.) Mercury.
Follies
(1971), by Stephen Sondheim
, during its pre-Broadway
tryout run
in Boston
. In his study of the work, Rich was "the first person to predict the legendary status the show eventually would achieve". The article "fascinated" Harold Prince, the musical's co-director, and "absolutely intrigued" Sondheim, who invited the undergraduate to lunch to further discuss his feelings about the production.
A collection of Rich's theatre reviews was published in a book, Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980–1993 (1998). He also wrote The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson, with Lisa Aronson, in 1987.
columnist for The New York Times; from 2003 to 2011, he wrote regularly for the Times on mass media
and public relations
, particularly its coverage of U.S. national politics. His columns, now appearing in New York Magazine, make regular references to a broad range of popular culture — including television, movies, theatre and literature — and draw connections to politics and current events. His columns are published in the International Herald Tribune
, the international edition of The Times.
As a political commentator, Rich is often criticized by Bill O'Reilly
, host of The O'Reilly Factor
, a talk show on the Fox News Channel
. Rich is openly critical of Fox News, accusing it in 2004 of having a politically conservative
media bias
.
In a January 2006 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
, a syndicated weekday talk show
, commenting on the James Frey
memoir scandal, Rich expanded on his usage in his column of the term truthiness
to summarize a variety of ills in culture and politics.
His book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina (2006), criticized the American media for its support of George W. Bush's administration
's policies following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Rich dismissed the historical-drama
film The Passion of the Christ
(2004), directed by Mel Gibson
, as "nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with slo-mo
climaxes and pounding music for the money shots", and praised Christopher Hitchens
's description of it as "a homoerotic
'exercise in lurid sadomasochism' for those who 'like seeing handsome young men stripped and flayed alive over a long period of time.'"
A July 2009 column focused on what Rich believes is the bigoted
nature of the U.S. president's detractors. On the Tea Party movement
, which emerged in 2009, Rich opined that at one of their rallies they were "kowtowing to secessionists". He wrote that death threats and a brick thrown through a congressman's window were a "small-scale mimicry of "Kristallnacht
" (or "night of broken glass", the November 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom
in Nazi Germany and Austria).
given annually by Long Island University
in Brookville
, New York, to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.
, was a writer for Saturday Night Live
, a live, late-night television sketch comedy
and variety show
.
through his college years, with a focus on his lifelong adoration of the theatre and the impact it had on his life.
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011. He held various positions with the Times—-in 1994 he became an op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
columnist, with his weekly essay appearing in the Sunday Week in Review section starting in April 2005.
On March 1, 2011 it was announced that he would be leaving the Times to become an essayist and editor-at-large for New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine starting in June 2011.
Early life and education
Rich grew up in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and attended public schools. He attended Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. At Harvard, he became the editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
, the university's daily student newspaper. Rich was an honorary Harvard College scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received a Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellowship. He graduated in 1971 with an A.B. magna cum laude in American history
History of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
.
Career
Before joining The New York Times in 1980, Rich was a film criticFilm criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, and film critic and senior editor of New Times Magazine
New Times Magazine
New Times was an American glossy bi-weekly national magazine published from 1973 to 1979 by George A. Hirsch. Hirsch had been publisher of New York magazine, but resigned after conflicts with founder/editor Clay Felker. New Times began as a bridge between the newsweeklies and the more reflective...
. In the early 1970s, he was a founding editor of the Richmond (Va.) Mercury.
Theatre criticism
Rich served as chief theatre critic of the New York Times from 1980 to 1993, earning the nickname "Butcher of Broadway" for his power over the prospects of Broadway shows. He first won attention from theatre-goers with an essay for The Harvard Crimson about the theatre musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
(1971), by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, during its pre-Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
tryout run
Tryout (theatre)
Tryout is staging a legitimate theatre performance at an off-site venue for evaluation and possible revision before going to Broadway or the West End...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. In his study of the work, Rich was "the first person to predict the legendary status the show eventually would achieve". The article "fascinated" Harold Prince, the musical's co-director, and "absolutely intrigued" Sondheim, who invited the undergraduate to lunch to further discuss his feelings about the production.
A collection of Rich's theatre reviews was published in a book, Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980–1993 (1998). He also wrote The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson, with Lisa Aronson, in 1987.
Media and political criticism
In 1994, Rich became an op-edOp-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
columnist for The New York Times; from 2003 to 2011, he wrote regularly for the Times on mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
, particularly its coverage of U.S. national politics. His columns, now appearing in New York Magazine, make regular references to a broad range of popular culture — including television, movies, theatre and literature — and draw connections to politics and current events. His columns are published in the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, the international edition of The Times.
As a political commentator, Rich is often criticized by Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
, host of The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, a talk show on the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
. Rich is openly critical of Fox News, accusing it in 2004 of having a politically conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
media bias
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
.
In a January 2006 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, a syndicated weekday talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
, commenting on the James Frey
James Frey
James Christopher Frey is an American writer. His books A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard , as well as Bright Shiny Morning , were bestsellers...
memoir scandal, Rich expanded on his usage in his column of the term truthiness
Truthiness
Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or that it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts....
to summarize a variety of ills in culture and politics.
His book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina (2006), criticized the American media for its support of George W. Bush's administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
's policies following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Rich dismissed the historical-drama
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
film The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
(2004), directed by Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
, as "nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with slo-mo
Slow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
climaxes and pounding music for the money shots", and praised Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
's description of it as "a homoerotic
Homoeroticism
Homoeroticism refers to the erotic attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female , most especially as it is depicted or manifested in the visual arts and literature. It can also be found in performative forms; from theatre to the theatricality of uniformed movements...
'exercise in lurid sadomasochism' for those who 'like seeing handsome young men stripped and flayed alive over a long period of time.'"
A July 2009 column focused on what Rich believes is the bigoted
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
nature of the U.S. president's detractors. On the Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
, which emerged in 2009, Rich opined that at one of their rallies they were "kowtowing to secessionists". He wrote that death threats and a brick thrown through a congressman's window were a "small-scale mimicry of "Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
" (or "night of broken glass", the November 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
in Nazi Germany and Austria).
Awards
In 2005, Rich received the George Polk AwardGeorge Polk Awards
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States.-History:...
given annually by Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
in Brookville
Brookville, New York
The Village of Brookville is a village located within the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village population was 3,465....
, New York, to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.
Personal life
Rich is married to Alexandra Witchel, who also writes for The New York Times, as "Alex Witchel". He has two sons from his previous marriage to Gail Winston; as of 2010, one, Simon RichSimon Rich
Simon Rich is an American humorist, novelist, and television writer, best known for being the youngest writer ever hired on Saturday Night Live and writing the Thurber Prize-nominated humor collection Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations....
, was a writer for Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, a live, late-night television sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
.
Memoir
Frank Rich's memoir, Ghost Light (2000), chronicles his childhood in 1950s MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
through his college years, with a focus on his lifelong adoration of the theatre and the impact it had on his life.
External links
- frankrich.com, Rich's website
- Column archive at New YorkNew York (magazine)New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine - Column archive at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Column archive at The Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
- Ghost Light excerpt
- The New York Times biographical video interview
- Rich participates in an extended political discussion with Andrew RosenthalAndrew RosenthalAndrew Rosenthal is an American journalist and editorial page editor of The New York Times. Rosenthal is in charge of the paper's opinion pages, both in the newspaper and online. He oversees the editorial board, the Letters and Op-Ed departments, as well as the Editorial and Op-Ed sections of...
, David BrooksDavid Brooks (journalist)David Brooks is a Canadian-born political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the New York Times...
and Maureen DowdMaureen DowdMaureen Bridgid Dowd is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times and best-selling author. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, she worked for Time magazine and the Washington Star, where she covered news as well as sports and wrote feature articles...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
video, July 17, 2006 - Craig Lambert article at Harvard MagazineHarvard MagazineHarvard Magazine is an independently edited magazine and separately incorporated affiliate of Harvard University. It is the only publication covering the entire University and also regularly distributed to all graduates, faculty and staff...
, July–August 2007 - Interview by San Diego CityBeatSan Diego CityBeatSan Diego CityBeat is an alternative weekly newspaper in San Diego, California that focuses on local progressive politics, arts, and music. It is published every Wednesday and distributed around San Diego county, although with a focus on the city of San Diego itself, with a weekly circulation of...
, May 5, 2007