Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for Time from 1965–2010, and also wrote for Life and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. His last writings about film were for Truthdig.

Richard Schickel
Schickel in 2000
Schickel in 2000
BornRichard Warren Schickel
(1933-02-10)February 10, 1933
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedFebruary 18, 2017(2017-02-18) (aged 84)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation
  • Film critic
  • historian
  • filmmaker
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
Years active1960–2015

He was interviewed in For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009). In this documentary, he discusses early film critics Frank E. Woods, Robert E. Sherwood, and Otis Ferguson, and tells of how, in the 1960s, he, Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris, rejected moralizing opposition of the older Bosley Crowther of The New York Times who had railed against violent movies such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967). In addition to film, Schickel also critiqued and documented cartoons, particularly Peanuts.[1]

Personal life

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Schickel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Helen (née Hendricks) and Edward John Schickel.[2][3] He received his B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1955.[4]

Schickel had two daughters. Following a series of strokes, he died in Los Angeles on February 18, 2017, eight days after his 84th birthday.[5]

Honors

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Schickel received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964. He also lectured at Yale University and University of Southern California's School of Film and Television.

Books

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  • The World of Carnegie Hall (1960)
  • The Stars (1962)
  • The Gentle Knight (1964)
  • Movies: The history of an Art and an Institution (1964)
  • The World of Goya, 1746–1828 (1968)
  • The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney (1968); revised editions: 1984, 1997
  • The Museum (1970)
  • Second Sight: Notes on Some Movies 1965–1970 (1972)
  • His Picture in the Papers: A Speculation on Celebrity in America Based on the Life of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (1974)
  • Harold Lloyd: The Shape of Laughter (1974)
  • The World of Tennis (1975)
  • The Men Who Made The Movies (1975)
  • Douglas Fairbanks: The First Celebrity (1976)
  • Another I, Another You: A Novel (1978)
  • Singled Out: A Civilized Guide to Sex and Sensibility for the Suddenly Single Man—or Woman (1981)
  • Cary Grant: A Celebration (1983)
  • D.W. Griffith: An American Life (1984); British Film Institute Book Prize, 1985
  • Intimate Strangers: The Culture of Celebrity (1985) (aka Common Fame: The Culture of Celebrity); revised 2000
  • Lena by Lena Horne and Richard Schickel
  • James Cagney: A Celebration (1986)
  • Gary Cooper (1986) ISBN 0-316-77307-7
  • Striking Poses: Photographs from the Kobal Collection (1987)
  • Carnegie Hall: The First One Hundred Years by Richard Schickel and Michael Walsh (1987)
  • Schickel on Film: Encounters—Critical and Personal—With Movie Immortals (1989)
  • Brando: A Life in Our Times (1991)
  • Double Indemnity (BFI Film Classics) (1992)
  • Clint Eastwood: A Biography (1996)
  • Hollywood at Home: A Family Album 1950–1965 (1998)
  • Matinee Idylls: Reflections on the Movies (1999)
  • Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip: Movies, Memory and World War II (2003)
  • Woody Allen: A Life in Film (2004)
  • Elia Kazan: A Biography (2005)
  • Bogie: A Celebration of the Life and Films of Humphrey Bogart (2006) ISBN 0-312-36629-9
  • The Essential Chaplin: Perspectives on the Life and Art of the Great Comedian (2006) (editor)
  • Clint [Eastwood] A Retrospective (2010)
  • Conversations with Scorsese (2011)
  • Steven Spielberg: A Retrospective (2012)
  • Keepers: The Greatest Films - and Personal Favorites - of a Moviegoing Lifetime (2015)

Documentaries

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DVD commentaries

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Michaelis, David (2007). Schulz and Peanuts: a Biography. Harper. p. 343. ISBN 9780066213934.
  2. ^ Schickel, Richard (April–May 2006). "My Milwaukee". American Heritage. Vol. 57, no. 2.
  3. ^ "Richard Schickel Biography (1933-)". www.filmreference.com.
  4. ^ Roberts, Sam (February 21, 2017). "Richard Schickel, Movie Critic, Author and Filmmaker, Dies at 84". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  5. ^ Dagan, Carmel (February 20, 2017). "Richard Schickel, Influential Time Magazine Film Critic, Dies at 84".
  6. ^ Each part of the series is dedicated to a director: Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh, William A. Wellman.
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