Cecilia Ager

Cecelia Ager, was an American film critic and star reporter for "Variety" and the "New York Post Magazine". She was married for 57 years to songwriter Milton Ager and was mother to two daughters, Laurel Ager and journalist Shana Alexander. She was known as "the coed" for her wit and the ukulele she carried on social occasions. She married Ager four months after meeting; Mayor Jimmy Walker of New York, also a songwriter, presided at the wedding in his office. She was the first female reporter for "Variety", and she was known as one of the best dressed women in America. She was the movie critic for the New York newspaper "PM" and a contributor to the "New York Times" and several national magazines.

Cecelia's aunt was Anzia Yezierska, known for her sensitive writing about the immigrant Jewish experience in New York. Cecelia's father Meyer Yeziersky/Max Mayer was the first of his family to immigrate to the US. Anzia arrived in 1901 after the rest of the family had joined him in adopting his first name as their surname in the US. Her success with novels and a film encouraged her niece and grandniece.