Stuart Byron (May 9, 1941 – December 13, 1991) was an American film critic and gay rights activist. He attended public schools in New York, then matriculated at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

- studying history and joining EQV Fraternity before graduating in 1963. For two years after graduation he was associate editor of the Independent Film Journal, then spent several years as a publicist for

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

and Avco/Embassy, plus a year as assistant to the president for motion pictures at Natoma Productions. In 1982, Byron moved from New York to Los Angeles to take on the position of creative affairs executive for

Ray Stark Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was one of the most successful and prolific independent film producers in postwar Hollywood. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most ...

at Rastar Productions until 1984. In the 1960s, Byron worked for a year as a reporter and reviewer for '' Variety'', and in 1971 he became the film-review columnist for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' at a time when the American film art and the dialogue surrounding it were being completely revised. Byron's resume, and his platform at the culturally-influential weekly made certain his voice was heard among the new wave of film-critics. Indeed, his substantial essays also frequently began to appear in ''

On Film On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * On (EP), ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * On (Echobelly album), ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * On (Gary Glitter album), ''On'' (Gary Glit ...

'', '' Film Comment'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', '' Harper's'', ''Movie'', ''Creem'', and ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'', among others. Byron also became well known for his "World's Hardest Movie Quiz" features in ''The Village Voice'' (which briefly returned to the paper in his memory from 1999 to 2004), and later for his "Rules of the Game" columns. He also achieved national notoriety for remarks made in 1981, when he accused critic Pauline Kael of making homophobic comments in her reviews. He is the co-editor (with Elisabeth Weis) of the book "The National Society of Film Critics on Movie Comedy", published in 1976. Byron was one of the first openly gay film critics in New York, coming-out publicly in one of his first reviews in the ''Village Voice'' (February 18, 1971). He was active in the

Gay Activists Alliance The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) was founded in New York City on December 21, 1969, almost six months after the Stonewall riots, by dissident members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). In contrast to the Liberation Front, the Activists Alliance s ...

as well as

National Gay Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports act ...

. Aside from a brief sojourn in Boston, he was a New York City resident until 1982, when he moved to Los Angeles to work for Stark. Although he returned to writing in 1984, he remained in California for the rest of his life; his work regularly appeared in ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'', and the gay news magazine ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

''. He died December 13, 1991, from complications resulting from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. His papers are held at the Wesleyan Film Archives at Wesleyan University.

References

External links

* Wesleyan Film Archives: The Stuart Byron Collectio

* Village Voice website reference

* "The National Society of Film Critics on Movie Comedy" (hardcover

* "The National Society of Film Critics on Movie Comedy" (paperback

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byron, Stuart 1941 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers AIDS-related deaths in California American film critics American male non-fiction writers American gay writers LGBT people from New York (state) Variety (magazine) people The Village Voice people Wesleyan University alumni Writers from the Bronx Writers from Los Angeles 20th-century American LGBT people