Frank Rich (born June 2, 1949 in Washington, D.C.) is a columnist for The New York Times who focuses on American politics and popular culture. His column ran on the front page of the Sunday arts and leisure section from 2003 to 2005; it now appears in the expanded Sunday Week in Review section. is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ... A columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a column. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and the Internet. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... The Federal Government of the United States was established by the United States politics is dominated by the two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. ... This article very generally discusses the customs and culture of the United States; for the culture of the United States, see arts and entertainment in the United States. ...

From 1980 to 1993, Rich was the Times' chief theater critic. He was sometimes known as "the Butcher of Broadway," not only for the perceived frequency and acerbity of his negative reviews, but also for the supposed influence that those reviews carried in determining whether or not a producer would close a show. But Rich wasn't always negative; he enthusiastically championed what were then new and diverse voices in American playwriting like August Wilson, David Henry Hwang, Tony Kushner and Scott McPherson. Additionally, he lobbied for much of the work done during his tenure by established dramatists like John Guare and Stephen Sondheim. August Wilson August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright. ... David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is a contemporary American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S. He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama. ... Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. ... John Guare (pronounced gwâr, born 5 February 1938) is an American playwright. ... Stephen Joshua Sondheim (b. ...

His reviews have been collected in a book, Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993 (ISBN 0-679-45300-8), published in 1998. One of the running themes in the book is Rich's attempt to disprove the perceived power of his position as the Times' Chief Drama Critic. As an addendum to the anthology, Rich provides statistics demonstrating a dozen or more shows that he panned which racked up long runs, as well as many shows that got raves from him but couldn't stay open more than a few weeks. He published a memoir, Ghost Light (ISBN 0-375-75824-0), in 2000.

Rich authored the book The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina, a criticism of the post-9/11 policies of the George W. Bush administration and especially of its use of PR. The book's fame was bolstered by a recurring endorsement on The Colbert Report following host Stephen Colbert's mock-"outrage" that Hugo Chávez had increased sales of Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance to the Number 1 spot at Amazon.com, dropping Rich's book to spot 2. The date that commonly refers to the attacks on United States citizens on September 11, 2001 (see the September 11, 2001 Attacks). ... The Bush administration includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Bushs Cabinet, and other select officials and advisors. ... // Publicity according to etymonline. ... The Colbert Report (IPA ) is an American satirical television program that airs from 11:30 p. ... This article is about Stephen Colbert, the actor. ... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (IPA: ) (born July 28, 1954) is the current President of Venezuela. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (Hebrew: אברם נועם חומסקי Yiddish: אברם נועם כאמסקי) (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ... Amazon. ...

Rich makes regular references to a broad range of popular culture — including television, movies, theater, and literature — and draws connections to politics and current events. In a January 2006 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he commented on the James Frey memoir scandal. On that show, he expanded on his usage in his column of the term "truthiness" (originally coined on The Colbert Report) to summarize a variety of parallel ills in culture and politics. In 2005, Rich received the George Polk Award ^[1] given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting. The Oprah Winfrey Show (also known as Oprah) is an American nationally syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history. ... James Christopher Frey (born September 12, 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio USA) is an American writer. ... Stephen Colbert announces that The Wørd of the night is truthiness, during the premiere episode of The Colbert Report. ... The George Polk Awards is an American journalism award. ... Long Island University (LIU) is a private university located on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. ...

Rich graduated from Harvard in 1971, where he was editorial chairman of the Harvard Crimson, studied American History and Literature, and lived in Lowell House. Before joining the Times in 1980, he was a film critic for Time. He is Jewish.^[2] He is married to Alex Witchel, who also writes for the Times, and has two sons from his previous marriage to Gail Winston. He lives in Manhattan. Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... The Harvard Crimson, the breakfast daily of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. ... The sky-blue bell tower of Lowell House Lowell House is one of the twelve undergraduate residential houses at Harvard University for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. ... “TIME” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ...

Criticisms

Rich is often criticized by Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Rich is openly critical of Fox News Channel, accusing it of having a conservative bias. ^[3] O'Reilly cites Rich's 2007 award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) as proof of his bias^[4]. On his radio broadcast of April 16, 2007, O'Reilly called Rich a hypocrite for having accused Mel Gibson of anti-semitism (in reference to Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ), while maintaining a more friendly attitude toward controversial commentator Don Imus, who had called New York City based sportscaster Len Berman "Lenny the Jew" on a 60 Minutes Broadcast in 1998. It has been suggested that Bill OReilly political beliefs and points of view be merged into this article or section. ... The OReilly Factor is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill OReilly, who discusses current political and social issues with guests from opposing ends of the political spectrum. ... “Fox News” redirects here. ... This article is about the actor. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... This article is about the film. ... John Donald Don Imus, Jr. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Len Berman on WNBC in 2005. ... This article is about the CBS news magazine. ...

The October 14, 2007 Times featured Colbert guest-writing most of Maureen Dowd's column. In that article Colbert satirically wrote "Bad things are happening in countries you shouldn’t have to think about. It’s all George Bush’s fault, the vice president is Satan, and God is gay. There. Now I’ve written Frank Rich’s column too."^[5] Maureen Dowd (born January 14, 1952) is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times. ...

Books

• The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina (ISBN 1-59420-098-X)
• Ghost Light: A Memoir (ISBN 0-375-75824-0)
• Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993 (ISBN 0-679-45300-8)

References

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External links

• "Meet Frank Rich", New York Times biographical video interview
• Index of New York Times columns by Frank Rich
• Harvard Crimson pieces
• Rich participates in extended political discussion with Andrew Rosenthal, David Brooks and Maureen Dowd, New York Times video, July 17, 2006
• Reviewing "Reality" - New York Times columnist Frank Rich views political life through a theatrical lens, by Craig Lambert, Harvard Magazine, July-August 2007
• The culture of politics: An interview with New York Times columnist Frank Rich by Anders Wright, San Diego City Beat, May 5, 2007