Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010.
[ In October of that year, he joined '']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 ...
'', where he subsequently served as chief film critic until 2020.[ McCarthy subsequently began writing regularly for '']Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
'' in 2020.
Personal life
Todd McCarthy was born in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
, the son of Daniel and Barbara McCarthy. His mother was a cellist and served as the president of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra. His father was a rancher and real-estate developer. McCarthy graduated from Evanston Township High School
Evanston Township High School (ETHS) District 202, is a four-year public high school occupying a campus in Evanston, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston ...
(ETHS) in 1968 and Stanford University in 1972. While at ETHS, he made a silent, plotless movie on Super 8 film
Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format.
The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted ...
titled ''Mimi'' after the nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
of his featured classmate who later became known as Claudia Jennings
Mary Eileen Chesterton (December 20, 1949 – October 3, 1979), known professionally as Claudia Jennings, was an American actress and model. Jennings was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for November 1969 and also Playmate of the Y ...
. In college, McCarthy was hired as a critic at the newspaper office on campus. His first review was a positive one for the French-Italian film '' Belle de Jour'' (1967). He wrote it at the age of 18.
Career
McCarthy edited ''Kings of Bs: Working Within the Hollywood System'' with Charles Flynn, a book that discusses the great filmmakers of B movies, which was published in 1975. He moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and from 1974 to 1975, worked for Paramount Pictures as an assistant to Elaine May. He helped her edit ''Mikey and Nicky
Mikey is a masculine given name, often a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Michael. It may also refer to:
People
* Mikey Ambrose (born 1993), American Major League Soccer player
* Mikey Arroyo (born 1969), Filipino actor and politician, son of Phili ...
'' (1976). From 1975 to 1977, McCarthy worked for New World Pictures
New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...
in Los Angeles as the director of advertising and publicity. He also joined ''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 a film critic in 1975 but was let go a year later. McCarthy was later the manager of the English-language edition of ''Le Film français
''Le Film français'' (''The French Film'') is a weekly French film magazine that was founded in 1944 by Jean-Bernard and Jean-Placide Derosne Mauclaire. The magazine is headquartered in Paris. In the 1980s it was described as similar to American m ...
'' in 1977. The next year, he got a job as a Hollywood editor for ''Film Comment
''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...
''.
McCarthy joined '' Daily Variety'' in 1979 and worked there as a reporter and film critic until 1989.[ In 1990, McCarthy wrote the ]PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
documentary ''Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer'' which won him an Emmy Award. He directed four documentaries about film: ''Visions of Light
''Visions of Light'' is a 1992 documentary film directed by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels. The film is also known as ''Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography''.
The film covers the art of cinematography since the concepti ...
'' (1992), ''Claudia Jennings'' (1995), ''Forever Hollywood'' (1999), and ''Man of Cinema: Pierre Rissient'' (2007). ''Visions of Light'' was named the Best Documentary of the Year award by the National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...
and the New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magaz ...
. ''Forever Hollywood'' has been played at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater located at 6706 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood ...
for more than a decade.
In 1991 he joined ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' as film review editor of ''Variety'' and ''Daily Variety''. He wrote about the producer/director Howard Hawks in his book, ''Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood'' which was published in 2000.[ In 2007 he wrote ''Fast Women: The Legendary Ladies of Racing.''] McCarthy also wrote ''Des Ovnis, des Monstres et du Sexe: Le Cinéma Selon Roger Corman'' (2011).
McCarthy lost his job at ''Variety'' in March 2010, having been the longest-serving member of their staff. McCarthy began writing for IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
after leaving ''Variety''. He was rehired by ''The Hollywood Reporter'' in October 2010 as the chief film critic under Janice Min. He wrote the introduction to the 2013 edition of cinematographer John Alton
John Alton (October 5, 1901 – June 2, 1996), born Johann Jacob Altmann, in Sopron, Kingdom of Hungary, was an American cinematographer of Hungarian-German origin. Alton photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period and wo ...
's book
''Painting with Light
''Painting with Light'' () by John Alton is the first book written on cinematography by a major cinematographer.
The book was first published in 1949. The book's primary focus is on light and the many complex ways a camera crew can manipulate ...
''. McCarthy lost his job at ''The Hollywood Reporter'' in April 2020. McCarthy subsequently began writing regularly for ''Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
'' later in 2020.
Personal life
At age 43, McCarthy married documentary filmmaker Sasha Alpert on July 4, 1993, at his family's ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado
The Town of Pagosa Springs (Ute dialect, Ute language: Pagwöösa, Navajo language: Tó Sido Háálį́) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat, the most populous community ...
.
References
External links
*
Todd McCarthy papers, MSS 2308
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Todd
1950 births
Living people
People from Evanston, Illinois
Evanston Township High School alumni
Stanford University alumni
American film critics
National Society of Film Critics Members
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
Journalists from California
Journalists from Illinois
Writers from California
Writers from Illinois
Variety (magazine) people
The Hollywood Reporter people
20th-century American male writers
Film directors from Illinois
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American male writers
Harold B. Lee Library-related film articles