{"id":228590,"date":"2026-05-12T14:56:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/228590\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:56:06","slug":"legendary-film-critic-rex-reed-dies-in-manhattan-at-age-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/228590\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary film critic Rex Reed dies in Manhattan at age 87"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rex Reed,<\/a> a legendary film critic known for sometimes blistering reviews of both actors and the movies they starred in, died on Tuesday in Manhattan at the age of 87.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reed\u2019s death was confirmed by his longtime friend, William Kapfer, through a statement to the media.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cLegendary journalist, film and cultural critic Rex Reed died early this morning, Tuesday, May 12,\u00a0at his home in Manhattan after a short illness, surrounded by his closest loved ones,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

Since the early 1960s, Reed has been known for his outspoken movie criticism and stylishly written profiles of Hollywood and Broadway icons, featured in publications ranging from The New York Times to GQ, Esquire and Vogue.<\/p>\n

Born in Fort Worth, TX, Reed moved to NYC after graduating from Louisiana State University in 1960. He held numerous positions as a film critic and writer in local media, but he was likely most famous for his popular column in the New York Observer over a span of four decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His reviews were at times marked by headline-making controversy. He once referred to actress Melissa McCarthy as \u201ctractor-sized\u201d and started a rumor that Marisa Tomei\u2019s 1992 Oscar for her role in \u201cMy Cousin Vinny\u201d was mistakenly given out after presenter Jack Palance announced the wrong name.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An article in Variety<\/a> stated that \u201cReed\u2019s criticism could be merciless, but he recoiled at the suggestion he was a crank.\u201d<\/p>\n

The article included part of a 2018 interview of Reed with the New York Times in which he said, \u201cI like just as many films as I dislike. But I think we\u2019re drowning in mediocrity. I just try as hard as I can to raise the level of consciousness. It\u2019s so hard to get people to see good films.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hard-edged writer was not without a few hiccups in his personal life that made the news. In 2000, he was arrested for shoplifting<\/a> from an Upper West Side<\/a> Tower Records, where he allegedly stole three CDs. According to published reports, he said it was a mistake, and the charges were dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Little resemblance to \u2018the curmudgeon\u2019 of his image<\/p>\n

Merin Curotto, Reed\u2019s editor at the Observer for more than a decade, penned a tribute to the writer<\/a> on May 12. She described Reed as one of her closest friends, adding that he \u201cbore little resemblance to the curmudgeon\u201d of his public image. He had qualities many people did not see.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I loved most about Rex was how he told stories,\u201d Curotto wrote. \u201cThe kind of anecdote that most people deliver flatly, without drama or color, Rex transformed into something unforgettable. He seized every opportunity to tell a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his closest friends in life was actress Angela Lansbury, Curotto\u2019s tribute to Reed stated. The pair spent time together playing cards, watching old movies and frequenting restaurants. Her death in 2022 was devastating to Reed, Curotto wrote, adding that he said, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I have friends anymore. They\u2019re all gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Reed\u2019s writings live on; they were collected in numerous books, including his first, \u201cDo You Sleep in the Nude?,\u201d which features celebrity profiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rex Reed, a legendary film critic known for sometimes blistering reviews of both actors and the movies they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[89788,75,84,83,9,24,89789,63,89790,89791],"class_list":["post-228590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-film-critics","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-observer","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-obituaries","tag-rex-reed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}