Robyn Karney (4 January 1940 – 7 December 2017) was a South African-born London-based film writer and critic. Karney was born in Cape Town, but raised in Johannesburg. A stage manager for the theatre companies of Brian Brooke and Leonard Schach, she emigrated to London in 1962. A former critic for the film magazine ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'', Karney edited several books on film including the massive historical works ''Chronicle of the Cinema'' (1995) and ''Cinema Year by Year'' (2000), both for

DK Publishing Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media cong ...

, and ''Who's Who in Hollywood'' (1993). Karney was also the author of biographies of Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin and Burt Lancaster. With

Ronald Bergan Ronald Bergan (né Ginsberg, 2 November 1937 – 23 July 2020) was a South African-born British writer and historian. He was contributor to ''The Guardian'' (from 1989) and lecturer on film and other subjects as well as the author (or co-author) ...

(1937–2020), she wrote the ''Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1988, 1991, known as the ''Holt Foreign Film Guide'', then ''The Faber Companion to Foreign Films'' in the United States). Her main job, however, was as a literary editor for major publishers. On 6 January 2009, Karney appeared as expert witness on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

series ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol. It has been presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and currently (since April 2006) Matthew Parris. A distinguished guest is asked to nominate the pe ...

'' with host

Matthew Parris Matthew Francis Parris (born 7 August 1949) is a British political writer and broadcaster, formerly a Conservative Member of Parliament. He was born in South Africa to British parents. Early life and family Parris is the eldest of six childre ...

and fellow guest

Tracy-Ann Oberman Tracy-Ann Oberman (born Tracy Anne Oberman; 25 August 1966) is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is widely known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2004–2005) and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie ...

in an edition devoted to actress

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

. Karney appeared again on ''Great Lives'', on 12 May 2015, in an edition in which Antonia Quirke championed actor Marlon Brando, with Karney providing a dissenting voice.

References

1940 births 2017 deaths British film critics British women film critics British film historians {{UK-writer-stub