Alexander Walker (critic)

Alexander Walker ( born March 23, 1930 in Portadown, Northern Ireland, † 15 July 2003) was a British film critic and biographer.

Life

Walker studied politics and philosophy in Belfast and was initially critic of the Birmingham Post, and from 1960 until his death critic of the London Evening Standard. In his role as " Nestor " British film critic, he was very influential in the film industry (he was also at times governor of the British Film Institute ). He wrote a number of books, including through the development of sound film and Impacts ( The shattered silents ) and a history of the British film in three volumes. He also wrote biographies of, among others, Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, Peter Sellers, Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich.

He received three times the British Press Award for best film critic.

Others

In his own words he began his career as a critic, as his mother in Belfast in the cinema the glasses broke and he had to tell her about the contents.

His collection of prints and drawings by contemporary artists after his death he bequeathed to the British Museum.

In the movie The Blair Witch Project, he is played by Tim Jahn.

Writings

• Double Takes - notes and afterthoughts on the movies 1956-1976, Elm Tree Books 1977
• His history of the British film: Hollywood U.K. - The British Film Industry in the 60s, New York, Stein and Day 1974
• National Heros - British Cinema in the 70s and 80s, London, Harrap 1985
• Icons in the Fire - the rise and fall of almost everybody in the British movie industry 1984-2000, London, Orion Books 2004