A. O. Scott

Anthony O. "Tony" Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and critic. He is best known as a film critic for "The New York Times".

Background and education

Scott grew up the son of two historians. His mother, Joan Wallach Scott, is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the School of Social Science in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. [ [http://www.sss.ias.edu/community/scott.php The School of Social Science ] ] His father, Donald Scott, is a professor of American history at CUNY. He is also a great nephew of the actor Eli Wallach.

Scott attended public schools in Providence, Rhode Island—including Classical High School—before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in 1988 with a degree in literature.

Career

Scott began his tenure at "The Times" Arts section in January, 2000, following Janet Maslin's retirement from film criticism. (Maslin continues to review genre fiction for the paper.) Before joining "The Times", Scott served as book critic for "Newsday", and also as a contributor for the "The New York Review of Books" and "Slate".

Television

In 2006 and 2007, Scott served repeatedly as guest critic on "Ebert & Roeper" with Richard Roeper in Roger Ebert's absence due to illness. He and Roeper counted down their selections for the top ten films of 2006 and again for 2007. The following are A.O. Scott's lists: He hosts a video podcast on the subject of film for "The New York Times".

Scott is currently working on a book of literary criticism about the 20th Century American novel. He is particularly fond of the work of Mary McCarthy, calling her novel "The Group" one of the greatest of the 20th Century. He contributed a foreword to her collection of essays "A Bolt from the Blue". He is also known as one of the few critics who gave MTV shock comedian Tom Green's debut film "Freddy Got Fingered" a positive review.

Personal life

Scott lives in the New York City borough of Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

References

External links

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* [http://movies.nytimes.com/ref/movies/bio_scott.html A.O. Scott: New York Times Biography]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=A.%20O.%20SCOTT&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=A.%20O.%20SCOTT&inline=nyt-per A.O. Scott: New York Times articles]
* [http://movies.nytimes.com/ref/movies/reviews/author/rev_auth_scott/index.html A.O. Scott: New York Times movie reviews]