{{Short description|American essayist and liberal columnist (born 1949)}} {{for|the English architect|Frank West Rich}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{infobox writer <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc --> | name = Frank Rich | image = Frank Rich (14221648949) (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Rich in 2004 |birth_name = Frank Hart Rich Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|6|2}} | birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = {{flatlist| *Writer *television producer}} | alma_mater = Harvard University (BA) | period = 1971–present | genre = Non-fiction | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Gail Winston|1976|1987|reason=div.}}|{{marriage|Alex Witchel|1991}}}} | children = {{flatlist| *Nathaniel *Simon}} }}
'''Frank Hart Rich Jr.'''<ref name=nytref1>{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=Alex Witchel, Times Theater Writer, To Marry Frank Rich, Critic, in June|date=March 24, 1991|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/24/style/alex-witchel-times-theater-writer-to-marry-frank-rich-critic-in-june.html}}</ref> (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.creators.com/read/dennis-prager/02/10/frank-rich-and-the-state-of-liberal-commentary|title=Frank Rich and the State of Liberal Commentary, by Dennis Prager|date=2010-02-08|website=www.creators.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-30}}</ref><ref name="The Editors 0,1">{{cite magazine|date=November 3, 2011|title=Over-Rated Thinkers|magazine=The New Republic|url=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/96141/over-rated-thinkers?page=0,1}}</ref> who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011.<ref name="NYTBio" /> He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO.
Rich is currently writer-at-large for ''New York'' magazine, where he writes essays on politics and culture and engages in regular dialogues on news of the week for the "Daily Intelligencer".<ref name="NYMag">{{cite news|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/frank_rich_joins_new_york.html|title=Frank Rich Joins New York Magazine|work=New York Magazine|access-date=March 1, 2011|date=March 1, 2011}}</ref> He served as executive producer of the long-running HBO comedy series ''Veep'', having joined the show at its outset in 2011, and of the HBO drama series ''Succession''.
==Early life and education== Born on June 2, 1949, Rich grew up in Washington, D.C. His mother, Helene Fisher (née Aaronson), a schoolteacher and artist, was from a Russian Jewish family that originally settled in Brooklyn, New York City, but moved to Washington, D.C., following the stock market crash of 1929. His father, Frank Hart Rich, a businessman, was from a German Jewish family long-settled in Washington.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.jhsgw.org/exhibitions/online/jewishwashington/oral-histories/frank-rich | title=Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of a Community: Frank Rich| website= jhsgw.org| publisher= Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, Capital Jewish Museum| date= June 3, 2005| access-date= }}</ref><ref name="marry">{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/24/style/alex-witchel-times-theater-writer-to-marry-frank-rich-critic-in-june.html|title=Alex Witchel, Times Theater Writer, To Marry Frank Rich, Critic, in June |work= The New York Times| date= March 24, 1991| page= 60| access-date= July 8, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SK-81iI6NJQC&q=%22Frank+Hart+Rich+and+Helene+Aaronson%22&pg=PA1406 |title=The International Who's Who 2004| work= google.ca| isbn= 9781857432176| publisher= Europa Publications |year=2003}}</ref> He attended public schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1967.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kurtz |first1=Howard |title=Politics Makes Great Theater |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/12/28/politics-makes-great-theater/11051f3e-eb9f-421c-9126-98d16c02a834/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 28, 1995 |page=C1}}</ref>
Rich attended Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Harvard, he was editorial chairman of ''The Harvard Crimson'',<ref name="Harvard Lambert">{{cite news |last1= Lambert |first1= Craig |title= Reviewing 'Reality' |url= https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2007/03/reviewing-reality.html |access-date=February 21, 2021 |work= Harvard Magazine |date=March–April 2017}}</ref> the university's daily student newspaper. Rich was an honorary Harvard College scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received a Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellowship. He graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American history and literature.<ref name="NYTBio" />
==Career== Before joining ''The New York Times'' in 1980, Rich was a film and television critic for ''Time'', a film critic for ''The New York Post'', and film critic and senior editor of ''New Times Magazine''. In the early 1970s, he was a founding editor of the ''Richmond (Va.) Mercury''.<ref name="NYTBio">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/RICH-BIO.html|title=Columnist Biography: Frank Rich|work=New York Times|access-date=May 20, 2010}}</ref>
===Theater criticism=== Rich served as chief theater critic of ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 1993, earning the nickname "Butcher of Broadway" for the perceived power of his negative reviews to close Broadway shows.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998353,00.html|title=Books: Stages of Development|date=October 30, 2000|magazine=Time|access-date=March 13, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526054310/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998353,00.html |archive-date=May 26, 2008}}</ref> He claimed that the actor Rowan Atkinson first used the nickname after Rich had panned a revue Atkinson brought to New York from London.<ref name=":0" /> He first won attention from theater-goers with an essay for ''The Harvard Crimson'' about the Broadway musical ''Follies'' (1971), by Stephen Sondheim, during its pre-Broadway tryout run in Boston.<ref name="FrankRich_Crimson_1971">{{Cite web |title=Theatre The Last Musical |last=Rich |first=Frank |work=The Harvard Crimson |date=1971-02-26 |access-date=2021-03-31 |url= https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/2/26/theatre-the-last-musical-pthese-are/ }}</ref> In his study of the work, Rich was "the first person to predict the legendary status the show eventually would achieve". The article "fascinated" Harold Prince, the musical's co-director, and "absolutely intrigued" Sondheim, who invited the undergraduate to lunch to further discuss his feelings about the production.<ref>Chapin, Ted (2003). ''Everything Was Possible — The Birth of the Musical Follies''. New York: Knopf. pp. 116, 193–195. {{ISBN|0-375-41328-6}}.</ref> {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?115159-1/hot-seat-theater-criticism Presentation by Rich on ''Hot Seat'', September 1, 1998], C-SPAN}} In a retrospective article for ''The New York Times Magazine'', "Exit the Critic," published in 1994, Rich reflected on the controversies during his tenure as drama critic as well as on the playwrights he championed and on the tragedies that decimated the New York theater during the height of the AIDS crisis.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/13/magazine/after-13-years-drama-farce-exit-critic-humming-music-settling-scores.html?pagewanted=all|title=After 13 years of drama and farce. . . EXIT THE CRITIC. . . humming the music and settling the scores.|work=New York Times|date=February 13, 1994 |last1=Rich |first1=Frank }}</ref> A collection of Rich's theater reviews was published in a book, ''Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for ''The New York Times'', 1980–1993'' (1998). He also wrote ''The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson'', with Lisa Aronson, in 1987.<ref name="NYTBio" />
===Media and political criticism=== From 1994 to 2011, Rich was an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''; he wrote regularly on the connections between mass media and American politics. His columns, now appearing in ''New York Magazine'', make regular references to a broad range of popular culture—including television, movies, theater and literature. In addition to his long-time work for the ''Times'' and ''New York'', Rich has written for many other publications, including ''The New York Review of Books'' and ''The New Republic''.
The commentator Bill O'Reilly, host of the Fox News Channel talk show ''The O'Reilly Factor'', criticized Rich following Rich's criticism of Fox in 2004 as having a politically conservative bias.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/19/arts/19RICH.html?ex=1253332800&en=5460390faa6f11da&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland|title=This Time Bill O'Reilly Got It Right|access-date=April 5, 2007|author=Rich, Frank (essay)|date= September 19, 2004|work= The New York Times}}{{Registration required}}</ref>
Rich also attracted controversy by dismissing the historical-drama film ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004), directed by Mel Gibson, as "nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with slo-mo climaxes and pounding music for the money shots."<ref>Rich, Frank (essay) (March 7, 2004). [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07/movies/mel-gibson-forgives-us-for-his-sins.html?pagewanted=all "Mel Gibson Forgives Us For His Sins"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved July 7, 2010.</ref> {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?194812-1/the-greatest-story-sold Presentation by Rich on ''The Greatest Story Ever Sold'', December 4, 2006], C-SPAN}} In a January 2006 appearance on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', commenting on the James Frey memoir scandal, Rich expanded on his usage in his column of the term ''truthiness'' to summarize a variety of ills in culture and politics.<ref>Transcript of interview (January 26, 2006). [http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Journalists-Speak-Out/4 "Journalists Speak Out"]. Accessed May 17, 2010</ref> His book, ''The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina'' (2006), criticized the American media for what he perceived as its support of George W. Bush's administration's propaganda following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and during the run-up to the Iraq war.<ref name="Harvard Lambert" />
A July 2009 column focused on what Rich believes is the bigoted nature of President Barack Obama's detractors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/opinion/19rich.html?_r=1|title=They Got Some 'Splainin' to Do|access-date=August 4, 2016|author=Rich, Frank (essay)|date= July 19, 2009|work=The New York Times}} {{Registration required}}</ref> On the Tea Party movement, which emerged in 2009, Rich opined that at one of their rallies they were "kowtowing to secessionists." He wrote that death threats and a brick thrown through a congressman's window were a "small-scale mimicry of "Kristallnacht" (or "night of broken glass", the November 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28rich.html|title=The Rage is Not about Health Care|access-date=August 4, 2016 |author=Rich, Frank (essay)|date= March 27, 2010|work= The New York Times}}</ref><ref name=JJLeft>[http://www.jewishjournal.com/dennis_prager/article/when_jews_on_the_left_see_americans_on_the_right_as_nazis_20100504 Jewish Journal: "When Jews on the Left See Americans on the Right as Nazis" by Dennis Prager] May 4, 2010</ref> In his essays at ''New York'', Rich has continued to examine the American right, including its latest revival during the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump.
==Television== Since 2008, Rich has been a creative consultant for HBO, where he has helped initiate and develop new programming and was an Executive Producer of ''Veep'', the long-running comedy series created by Armando Iannucci and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. He was also an Executive Producer of ''Succession'', the HBO drama series created by Jesse Armstrong that debuted in June 2018 to critical praise.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Holloway|first1=Daniel|title=Will Ferrell-Adam McKay Political Drama 'Succession' Ordered by HBO|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/will-ferrell-adam-mckay-hbo-1201981682/|website=Variety|date=February 8, 2017 |access-date=February 9, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Petski|first1=Denise|title='Succession' Renewed For Season 2 By HBO|url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/succession-renewed-season-2-hbo-1202407822/|website=Deadline|date=June 11, 2018 |access-date=June 11, 2018}}</ref>
Rich was also an Executive Producer for the HBO documentaries ''Six by Sondheim'' (2013), directed by James Lapine, and ''Becoming Mike Nichols'' (2016), directed by Douglas McGrath.
==Awards== Rich's journalistic honors include the George Polk Award for commentary in 2005<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www2.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2005.html|title=George Polk Awards for Journalism|access-date=November 15, 2006| publisher= Long Island University| website= liu.edu | url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208192229/http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2005.html|archive-date=December 8, 2006|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and, in 2011, the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from Harvard University (also his alma mater). In 2011, Rich was awarded an honorary doctorate from The New School.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/06/06/pomp-and-circumstance-mark-singer| title= Pomp and Circumstance |magazine= The New Yorker |date=2011-06-06}}</ref> In 2016, he received the Mirror Award for Best Commentary from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2014.
Rich was twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist, in 1987 and 2005.<ref>{{cite web|date=June 26, 2017 |title=Search: Frank Rich| website= pulitzer.org| url= http://www.pulitzer.org/search/frank%2520rich}}</ref> In 2010, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Silurians Press Club.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 19, 2021| title= Lifetime Achievement Award Winners |url=https://www.silurians.org/awards/| website= silurians.org| publisher= | access-date= }}</ref>
Rich received Emmy Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2017 for ''Veep'', which was named Outstanding Comedy Series, and in 2020 for ''Succession'', which was named Outstanding Drama Series.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.emmys.com/bios/frank-rich| title= Frank Rich| website= emmys.com| publisher= | date= | access-date= }}</ref> He also received a Golden Globe in 2020 for ''Succession'', which won the Best Drama Series prize.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/succession | title= Succession | website= goldenglobes.com| date= | publisher= | access-date= }}</ref> He has won three Peabody Awards: for ''Succession'' in 2020, for ''Veep'' in 2017, and, in 2013, for ''Six by Sondheim'',<ref>{{cite web |website= PeabodyAwards.com |url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/awards|title=Search the Winners|access-date=June 26, 2017 |publisher= Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication}}</ref> which was also honored with the ASCAP Deems Taylor Television Broadcast Award.
==Criticism== In 2011, ''The New Republic'' included him along with Rachel Maddow, Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, etc. in an editorial roundup of the "Most Over-Rated Thinkers" of the year, calling him "an utterly conventional pundit of the old salon liberal variety".<ref name="The Editors 0,1"/>
==Personal life== Rich lives in Manhattan with his wife, Alex Witchel, an author and journalist; they married in 1991.<ref name="marry" /> He has two sons from his previous marriage to Gail Winston:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/rich-rewards-vol-54-no-25/|title=Rich Rewards|work=People |date=December 11, 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= https://thestacks.deadspin.com/how-frank-rich-became-the-butcher-of-broadway-1796376800|title=How Frank Rich Became The Butcher Of Broadway|work=Deadspin |date=July 13, 2017}}</ref> Simon Rich, a novelist and short story writer who created the television series ''Man Seeking Woman'' and was a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', and Nathaniel Rich, who is a novelist, journalist, and essayist.
==Memoir== {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?160742-1/ghost-light-memoir ''Booknotes'' interview with Rich on ''Ghost Light: A Memoir'', December 10, 2000], C-SPAN}} Frank Rich's memoir ''Ghost Light'' (2000) chronicles his childhood in the late 1950s and 1960s in Washington, D.C., with a focus on his lifelong adoration of the theater and the impact it had on his life.<ref name="NYTBio" />
==Bibliography== *Rich, Frank; Aronson, Lisa (1987). ''The Theatre Art of Boris Aronson''. New York: Knopf. {{ISBN|0-394-52913-8}}. *Rich, Frank (1998). ''Hot Seat — Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980–1993''. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|0-679-45300-8}}. *Rich, Frank (2000). ''Ghost Light — A Memoir.'' New York: Random House. {{ISBN|0-375-75824-0}}. *Rich, Frank (2006). ''The Greatest Story Ever Sold — The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina''. New York: Penguin Press. {{ISBN|1-59420-098-X}}.
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://nymag.com/frank-rich/ Column archive] at ''New York'' magazine *[http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/frankrich/index.html Column archive] at ''The New York Times'' *[https://www.thecrimson.com/writer/21/Frank__Rich/ Column archive] at ''The Harvard Crimson'' *{{C-SPAN|39895}} *{{Charlie Rose view|284}} *{{IMDb name|1586829}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Frank}} Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners Category:21st-century American essayists Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American journalists Category:21st-century American male writers Category:American columnists Category:American male essayists Category:21st-century American male journalists Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American political writers Category:American theatre critics Category:The New York Times critics Category:George Polk Award recipients Category:Harvard College alumni Category:The Harvard Crimson people Category:Jewish American essayists Category:Jewish American journalists Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers Category:Journalists from New York City Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C. Category:New Times magazine (1973-1979) Category:New York (magazine) people Category:The New York Times columnists Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners Category:Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Category:Writers from Manhattan