Howard William Kissel (October 29, 1942 – February 24, 2012) was an American

theater critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Before serving as the chief theatre critic for the '' Daily News'' for twenty years, Kissel was the arts editor for ''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...

''. He also wrote a column for ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. Kissel also authored a biography on theater producer

David Merrick David Merrick (born David Lee Margoulis; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of Tony Awards. Life and career Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick gradua ...

, entitled ''David Merrick, the Abominable Showman'', which was published in 1993.Northwestern University Library-Howard Kissel papers
/ref> Kissel was born on October 29, 1942 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

and attended Shorewood High School. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1964 and obtained his master's from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He was married to Christine Buck from 1974 until her death in 2006. Kissel died in Manhattan on February 24, 2012, aged 69. According to his sister, he had been suffering from health complications following a liver transplant in 2010.

References

1942 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American theater critics Columbia College (New York) alumni HuffPost writers and columnists New York Daily News people Northwestern University alumni Writers from Manhattan Writers from Milwaukee {{US-writer-stub