Rex Reed, Sharp-Witted Critic and Journalist Who Often Courted Controversy, Dies at 87

By Brent Lang

Brent Lang

Executive Editor

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Rex Reed, a critic and journalist known for his brash, often acidic takes on films and filmmakers, died Tuesday at his Manhattan home. He was 87.

William Kapfer, Reed’s longtime friend, confirmed his death. No cause was given. Reed burst on the movie criticism scene in the 1960s, and was part of a wave of new reviewers, Pauline Kael among them, who offered a sharper, jazzier alternative to the more staid forms of analysis that had been showcased by major outlets. These writers also had the good fortune to arrive as cinema itself was undergoing a transformation, with the studio system collapsing and something sexier, edgier and barrier-breaking emerging in its place.

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