Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the

Master of Professional Writing Program A Master of Professional Writing Program is a type of graduate degree program in professional writing. Chatham University in Pennsylvania has an online MPW program. The University of Southern California's MPW program ended in May 2016, at which poin ...

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He was a film critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' from 1991 until 2020 and was described by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' as "arguably the most widely read film critic in the town most associated with the making of movies".

Early life

Turan was raised in an observant

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He received a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and a master's degree in journalism 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 ...

. At Swarthmore, he was roommates with the mathematician and science fiction author

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...

Career

Before becoming a film critic, Turan was a staff writer for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. Turan was a film critic for ''

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follett ...

'', a magazine published in Madison, Wisconsin, and in 1991 he became a film critic for ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. In 1993, he was named the director of the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prizes. Turan announced his retirement from ''The Los Angeles Times'' on March 25, 2020. He is featured in the documentary '' For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism'' (2009) discussing his public quarrel with film director James Cameron, who e-mailed the ''Los Angeles Times'' editors calling for Turan to be fired after he wrote a scathing review of ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' (1997). Cameron accused Turan of using an "incessant rain of personal barbs" and using his "bully pulpit not only to attack my film, but the entire film industry and its audiences". Turan founded the

KUSC KUSC (91.5 FM) is a listener-supported classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and operated by the University of Southern California, which also operates student-run Internet s ...

radio program ''Arts Alive''. He provides regular movie reviews for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

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'' and serves on the board of directors of the

Yiddish Book Center The Yiddish Book Center (formerly the National Yiddish Book Center), located on the campus of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, is a cultural institution dedicated to the preservation of books in the Yiddish language, a ...

Publications

* ''Not to Be Missed: Fifty-Four Favorites From a Lifetime of Film'' (2014) *''Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told'' (2009) with Joseph Papp *''Now In Theaters Everywhere.'' (2006) *''Never Coming To A Theater Near You.'' (2004) *''Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made.'' (2002) *''Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke.'' (1987) *''I'd Rather Be Wright: Memoirs of an Itinerant Tackle.'' (1974) *''Sinema: American Pornographic Films and the People Who Make Them.'' (1974) *''The Future is Now: George Allen, Pro Football's Most Controversial Coach.'' with William Gildea (1972)

Awards

*2006: ''Special Citation.'' National Society of Film Critics Awards.

References

External links

NPR biographyUSC
Kenneth Turan * 1946 births Living people American film critics National Society of Film Critics Members Jewish American journalists People from Brooklyn Swarthmore College alumni University of Southern California faculty NPR personalities Los Angeles Times people Journalists from New York City 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American Jews {{US-journalist-1940s-stub