Kael, Pauline (1919–2001)

US film critic and writer. From 1968 she reviewed films for the New Yorker during which time she briefly worked for Paramount Pictures in California. Known as a knowledgeable, intelligent, and enthusiastic reviewer of films, she consistently treated films as a respected art form even when her idiosyncratic or waspish views aroused controversy.

Born in Petaluma, California, she studied philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley 1936–40 before working at a variety of jobs, including writing film reviews. She moved to New York City in 1965 and worked for Life magazine. Her reviews were unusual in gaining a second life in a series of collections such as When the Lights Go Down (1980).