Mel Gussow

Melvyn (Mel) H. Gussow
Born	December 19, 1933(1933-12-19) New York City
Died	April 29, 2005(2005-04-29) (aged 71) 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; Army newspaper Heidelberg, Germany[1]

Melvyn (Mel) H. Gussow (pronounced GUSS-owe; December 19, 1933 – April 29, 2005)^[1] was an American theater critic, movie critic, and author who wrote for The New York Times for 35 years.

Biography

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 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.

Gussow was a writer for the Army newspaper in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was stationed for two years.^[1] He was hired by Newsweek, where he became a movie and theater critic. His first Broadway play review was for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962. This review began a life-long relationship with the play's author, Edward Albee, that included Gussow's 1999 biography of the playwright entitled Edward Albee: A Singular Journey.^[1]

Gussow joined the New York Times in 1969 and over his 35 year career wrote more than 4,000 of the newspaper's reviews and articles.^[1] He authored eight books^{[citation needed]}, 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 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 had kept working until just three weeks before his death, writing at that time an obituary along with New York Times colleague Charles McGrath of Canadian-born Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Saul Bellow.^[5]

In 2008, Gussow was inducted posthumously into the American Theater Hall of Fame at the same time as actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein, the actors John Cullum, Lois Smith and Dana Ivey, the director Jack O'Brien, the playwright Peter Shaffer, and the librettist Joseph Stein.^[6]

Family

Gussow was married to Ann, who survived him, along with their son Ethan, who married Susan Baldomar in 1998.^[1][7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} McKinley, Jesse (May 1, 2005). "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. Retrieved April 9, 2011. "Mr. Gussow was survived by his wife, Ann, and his son, Ethan, both of Manhattan, and by a brother, Paul Gussow, of Brooklyn." 
2. ^ Gussow, Mel (November 12, 1997). "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. Retrieved April 9, 2011. "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" 
3. ^ ^{a b} Gussow, Mel (March 5, 2000). "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 February 25, 2009. 
4. ^ Staff (May 4, 2005). "Paid Notice: Deaths: Gussow, Melvyn" (Web). The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E6D61630F937A35756C0A9639C8B63. Retrieved April 9, 2011. 
5. ^ Gussow, Mel (April 6, 2005). "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. 
6. ^ Andrew Gans (January 28, 2008). "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. 
7. ^ Staff (September 27, 1999). "Weddings: Susan Baldomar, Ethan Gussow". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EEDB1739F934A1575AC0A96E958260. Retrieved April 9, 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Gussow, Melvyn
Alternative names
Short description	theater critic
Date of birth	December 19, 1933
Place of birth	New York City
Date of death	April 29, 2005
Place of death	New York City