John Simon (critic)

John Simon (born Ivan Simon on May 12, 1925, in Subotica in what would become the former Yugoslavia) is a Serbian-American author and literary, theater and film critic. He was educated at Harvard, and has been a regular contributor to a number of magazines, including The New Leader, The New Criterion, and National Review. Although not a native English speaker, he is known for his incisive criticism of the (mis)use of the language in American writing, and was one of the guests on the PBS special "Do You Speak American?"

Related Topics:
May 12 - 1925 - Subotica - Yugoslavia - Harvard - The New Leader - The New Criterion - National Review - English - PBS

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Simon was theatre critic at New York magazine for newly 40 years, until his firing from that position in May, 2005. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/92861.html. He now writes criticism for a website.

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Simon is noted for his acid tongue, and his penchant for critiquing the physical appearance of actors. (Describing Liza Minnelli, he said, "I always thought Miss Minnelli's face deserving—of first prize in the beagle category. It is a face going off in three directions simultaneously: the nose always en route to becoming a trunk, blubber lips unable to resist the pull of gravity, and a chin trying its damnedest to withdraw into the neck.") He was terminated from New York's PBS television station in 1967 because they considered his reviews misanthropic. In 1969 the New York Drama Critics Circle voted to refuse him membership, but allowed him to join in 1970. Reactions from those he critiqued ranged from Joseph Papp's remarks that Simon suffered from the effects of a "benevolent mother who undoubtably fussed all over her precocious offspring", to Edward Albee's statement that "Mr. Simon's disapproval of my plays has been a source of comfort to me over the years and his dislike of A Delicate Balance gives me courage to go on." Harvey Sabinson, of the League of New York Theatres and Producers, once likened him to "a sadistic guard in a Nazi camp." Famously, actress Sylvia Miles dumped a plate of spaghetti over Simon's head at The Ginger Man restaurant on October 7, 1973. Time magazine's December 26, 1977, piece on Simon was titled "Count Dracula of Schubert Alley". In 1980, an ad appeared in Variety, signed by 300 people, protesting his reviews as vicious and racist.

Related Topics:
Liza Minnelli - Joseph Papp - Edward Albee - A Delicate Balance - Sylvia Miles - October 7 - 1973 - Time - December 26 - 1977 - 1980

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Other comments which aroused considerable controversy were his assertion that 1970's Show Me Where the Good Times Are was "a faggotty Jewish musical", and his declaration that "...Barbra Streisand the sort of thing that starts pogroms."

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His works have been collected in several volumes, including Uneasy Stages.

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