Mel Gussow
| Melvyn (Mel) Gussow | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 19, 1933 New York City |
| Died | April 29, 2005 New York City |
| Occupation | Theater critic, movie critic, author |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Meredith Beebe Gussow, 1963 |
| Children | Ethan Meredith Gussow |
| Notable credit(s) | The New York Times; Newsweek; The Army Heidelberg |
Melvyn (Mel) Gussow (pronounced GUSS-owe; born December 19, 1933 – died April 29, 2005)[1] was an American theater critic who wrote for The New York Times for 35 years.
Gussow was born in New York City. He grew up in Rockville Centre, located in the Town of Hempstead, Long Island, New York.[1] He attended South Side High School.[2] and Middlebury College, where for some time he served as editor of The Campus and graduated in 1955 with a B.A. in American literature. He earned an M.A. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1956.
After two years in the U.S. Army as a newspaper writer for The Army Heidelberg, he was hired by Newsweek, where he became a movie and theater critic. His first review of a Broadway play was for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962. This review began a life-long relationship with the play's author, Edward Albee, concluding with Gussow's 1999 biography of the playwright entitled Edward Albee: A Singular Journey.
Gussow joined the New York Times in 1969, writing more than 4,000 of the newspaper's reviews and articles.[1] He authored eight books including a series of four which were considered "conversations" with playwrights Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Tom Stoppard. Times arts reporter Jesse McKinley notes that Gussow's interview collections became "staples of college drama curriculums and the libraries of gossip-loving theater fans".[1]
In the late 1960s and in 1970 he and his wife Ann and son Ethan, actor Dustin Hoffman, and several other families lived in apartments in a townhouse at 16 West 11th Street. On March 6, 1970, the townhouse next door to theirs at number 18 was destroyed by an explosion of dynamite that killed three and injured two members of the Weathermen organization. In an article written by Gussow on the 30th anniversary of the disaster,[3] Gussow reported an FBI finding that "had all the explosives detonated, the explosion would have leveled everything on both sides of the street." Gussow and his family remained residents of Greenwich Village after the explosion, maintaining a home on West 10th Street.[3]
Gussow died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital from bone cancer at the age of 71.[1][4] He kept working until April 6, 2005, three weeks before his death, co-writing at that time an obituary of Canadian-born Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Saul Bellow.[5] In 2008, Gussow was inducted posthumously into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[6].
Family
Gussow married Ann Meredith Beebe in 1963. At his death, Gussow was survived by Ann, their son Ethan, daughter-in-law Susan Baldomar, and younger brother Paul.[1][7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Jesse McKinley (2005-05-01). "Mel Gussow, Critic, Dies at 71: A Champion of Playwrights" (Web). The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/arts/01gussow.html. "Mr. Gussow was survived by his wife, Ann, and his son, Ethan, both of Manhattan, and by a brother, Paul Gussow, of Brooklyn."
- ^ Mel Gussow (1997-11-12). "At Lunch With: Doris Kearns Goodwin" (Web). The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E1DF1E39F931A25752C1A961958260. "In common with Ms. Goodwin, I grew up in Rockville Centre. Her older sister, Jeanne, was a classmate of mine at South Side High School"
- ^ a b Mel Gussow (2000-03-05). "The House On West 11th Street" (Web). The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E4DB1638F936A35750C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Staff (2005-05-04). "Paid Notice: Deaths: Gussow, Melvyn" (Web). The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E6D61630F937A35756C0A9639C8B63.
- ^ Mel Gussow (2005-04-06). "Saul Bellow, Who Breathed Life Into American Novel, Dies at 89" (Web). The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/books/06bellow.html.
- ^ Andrew Gans (2008-01-28). "Fierstein, Ivey, O'Brien and More Inducted Into Theater Hall of Fame Jan. 28; Tune Hosts". Playbill.com. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114595.html.
- ^ "WEDDINGS; Susan Baldomar, Ethan Gussow". The New York Times. 1999-09-27. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EEDB1739F934A1575AC0A96E958260.
