Richard Watts Jr. (January 12, 1898 – January 2, 1981) was an American theatre critic for the '' New York Herald Tribune'' and the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

''. He was a war and foreign correspondent from the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Richard Watts was born on January 12, 1898, in

Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Little Kanawha River, Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's List of municipalities in West Virginia ...

. He studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 1917 to 1921.

Career

In 1922, Watts joined the '' Brooklyn Times'' as a reporter. In 1924, Watts joined the '' New York Herald''. He served as its motion picture critic until 1936. In 1936, Watts succeeded Percy Hammond as drama critic for the '' New York Herald Tribune''. He continued in that role until 1942. Watts was a foreign correspondent. From 1937 to 1938, he reported on the

and from 1938 to 1939, he reported on the Far East for the ''Herald Tribune''. He reported on

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

activities in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. In 1941, he was a war correspondent for four months in China, Burma, the Netherlands, East Indies and Malaya. In 1942, Watts was appointed chief of the

United States Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He edited ''American Letters'', a weekly publication by the Office of War Information. He was press attache for the American legation in Dublin. He reported in Dublin until 1943. In 1944, he reported in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

and was press attache to Joseph Stilwell in China. After returning from the war, Watts returned to work as a drama critic at the ''

'' and reviewed daily from 1946 to 1974. He then wrote a Saturday column of criticism until his retirement in 1976. He also wrote a regular column entitled "Random Notes on This and That." He is also credited for lending his name and voice to a Fatima Cigarette commercial for the radio show "Dragnet".

Personal life

Watts was a bachelor. He lived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Watts had a stroke in late 1980 and was in a coma. He died of cardiac arrest on January 2, 1981, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. His funeral was held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Richard, Jr. 1898 births 1981 deaths People from Parkersburg, West Virginia People from Manhattan Columbia University alumni American theater critics New York Herald Tribune people New York Post people American foreign correspondents American war correspondents of World War II