Woollcott, Alexander Humphreys (1887-1943)

US theatre critic and literary figure. He was theatre critic for the The New York Times 1914-22, a regular contributor to The New Yorker from its inception in 1925, and hosted the radio interview programme Town Crier 1929-42. He appeared on stage in The Man Who Came to Dinner 1939 as a character based on himself. Woollcott was a member of the Algonquin Hotel Round Table of wits in New York City, together with Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker.

Woollcott was born in Phalanx, New Jersey, educated at Hamilton College and joined the staff of the Times in 1909. Later he worked as a theater critic for the New York Herald, Sun, and World, and wrote several books, including While Rome Burns (1934).