Rex Reed facts for kids

Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, journalist, and TV personality. He is known for sharing his strong opinions about movies and celebrities.

Rex Reed grew up in the southern United States and went to Louisiana State University. In the early 1960s, he moved to New York City to start his career. He wrote about popular culture, art, and famous people for many newspapers and magazines. He also became well-known himself, appearing on TV often and sometimes acting in movies during the 1970s and 1980s.

For a long time, Reed has written for The New York Observer. He is known for his direct writing style and sometimes having different opinions than others. Some of his writing has been criticized for having mistakes or for making harsh comments about actors.

Early Life and Education

Rex Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Worth, Texas. His father, James M. Reed, worked for an oil company.

He earned a degree in journalism from Louisiana State University in 1960. While there, he started writing reviews for films and plays. He wrote for the university's newspaper, The Daily Reveille, and also for a local newspaper, The Morning Advocate.

After college, he moved to New York City hoping to become an actor. Instead, he got a job in the publicity department at 20th Century Fox. He later said his job was to write positive things about stars like Elvis Presley and Fabian, even if he didn't like their movies. He lost his job when the company faced financial problems. Later, he wrote many interviews for The New York Times and New York magazine. In 1966, he became a music critic for HiFi/Stereo Review (now Sound & Vision).

Career Highlights

Acting and TV Appearances

Rex Reed has acted in a few movies. These include Myra Breckinridge (1970), Superman (1978, where he played himself), Inchon (1981), and Irreconcilable Differences (1984). He also often appeared as a judge on the TV game show The Gong Show in the late 1970s. In 1971, he was on the jury at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. He also lent his voice to the animated series The Critic, playing himself.

In 2009, Rex Reed appeared in a documentary called For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. In it, he talked about how important film critics were in the 1970s.

Film Critic

Before writing for The New York Observer, Reed was a film critic for magazines like Vogue and GQ, and newspapers like The New York Times and Women's Wear Daily. He was also an arts critic for the New York Daily News for 13 years and the film critic for the New York Post for five years. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and New York Film Critics Online.

In 1974, Rex Reed reviewed Frank Sinatra's performance at Madison Square Garden. He said that Sinatra's voice was no longer as good as it used to be. Years later, Reed remembered that Sinatra looked messy during the performance. He said Sinatra was upset with his review but then lost weight.

After Marlee Matlin won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1986 for Children of a Lesser God, Reed wrote that he believed her win was connected to her playing a deaf character.

Rex Reed made claims about Marisa Tomei (pictured, at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009) winning an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny.

In 1992, Marisa Tomei won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in My Cousin Vinny. Rex Reed publicly claimed that she hadn't actually won the award. He suggested that the presenter, Jack Palance, had accidentally read the wrong name. When it was explained that the card only had one name, Reed changed his theory. He then said Palance read the wrong name from the Teleprompter, and that the Academy went along with it to avoid embarrassment. However, the accounting firm Price Waterhouse, which handles the Oscar results, said that if a mistake like that happened, a representative would immediately correct it on stage. Film critic Roger Ebert said Reed's theories were false and unfair to Tomei.

Rex Reed's comments about Melissa McCarthy (photographed in 2012) in his review of Identity Thief caused controversy.

In 2013, Rex Reed reviewed the movie Identity Thief. In his review, he made several comments about actress Melissa McCarthy's weight. Many people, including other film critics, said his comments were mean-spirited and like bullying. The review was even mentioned at the 85th Academy Awards. Candy Spelling wrote that Reed's review was like bullying. Reed defended his comments, saying he objected to serious health issues being used for comedy. He also praised McCarthy for not getting involved in the public discussion.

In 2017, in a review for The Shape of Water, Reed used a term to describe people with disabilities that many found offensive.

Mistakes in Reviews

Rex Reed's reviews have sometimes been criticized for having factual errors.

In his 2012 review for The Cabin in the Woods, his summary of the movie contained many mistakes. Critics pointed out that about half of his review was factually wrong. Some also felt his comments were unnecessarily insulting to those who enjoyed the film.

In 2013, Reed reviewed V/H/S/2 even though he left the movie within the first 20 minutes. Because of this, his review was short and incorrectly described a part of the film. Some journalists felt this was unprofessional.

In 2017, Reed's review of The Shape of Water incorrectly called the director and writer Guillermo del Toro "Benecio del Toro" and said he was from Spain. Guillermo del Toro is from Mexico, and the actor Benicio del Toro is from Puerto Rico.

That same year, he put the film Get Out on his list of the 10 Worst Films of 2017. In a later interview, he made a sarcastic comment about the movie, saying he didn't care if "all the black men are turned into robots." However, a writer for the TV show noted that there were no robots in the film.

Personal Life

Rex Reed lives in an apartment building called the Dakota in New York City. He bought his two-bedroom apartment in 1969.

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