Brooks Atkinson

Here is a detailed profile of Brooks Atkinson — his life, critical career, influence, and legacy:

Brooks Atkinson – Life, Career, and Legacy

Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was a seminal American theatre critic, journalist, war correspondent, and literary figure. He is best known for his long tenure as the drama critic for The New York Times, where his reviews shaped Broadway and American theatre for decades.

Early Life & Background

• Atkinson was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, to Jonathan Henry Atkinson (a salesman/statistician) and Garafelia Taylor.

• From an early age, he displayed a passion for journalism: as a boy he printed his own small newspaper using movable type.

• He attended Harvard University, graduating in 1917.

• After Harvard, he worked at The Springfield Daily News and then the Boston Evening Transcript, where he became assistant to the drama critic.

• In 1922, he joined The New York Times as editor of its Book Review, and by 1925 he became its drama critic.

Career as Theatre Critic & Journalist

The New York Times & Critical Influence

• Atkinson’s critical voice became one of the most respected and influential in American theatre. His reviews could help make or break a play.

• He championed new forms of theatre, including Off-Broadway productions and experimental works, and he was an early admirer of playwrights like Eugene O’Neill.

• During his career, he published prolifically—writing thousands of words weekly, attending productions across New York and beyond.

War Correspondence & Reporting

• During World War II, Atkinson requested reassignment from theatre criticism to cover the war. He served as a correspondent in China (during the Sino-Japanese conflict) and later was sent to Moscow.

• His reports from Moscow earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence in 1947.

• After his foreign reporting, he returned to The Times drama desk and resumed his role as critic until his retirement in 1960.

Retirement & Later Years

• In 1960, Atkinson retired formally from The Times.

• He briefly came out of retirement in 1965 to write a favorable review of Man of La Mancha.

• After retirement, he lived in various places, including a farm in Durham, New York, and later relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, to be near family.

• He died on January 14, 1984, at the age of 89, of complications following pneumonia.

Personality, Principles & Critical Ethos

• Atkinson insisted on integrity, fairness, and seriousness in criticism. By his standards, theatre should not merely entertain, but provoke thought and engage with moral or social issues.

• He was deeply invested in promoting new voices, experimental theatre, and productions outside the Broadway mainstream—believing that a rich theatrical ecosystem should be encouraged.

• He sometimes expressed discomfort with how much influence critics like him wielded over commercial success. For instance, in The New Yorker on his retirement he denied that a negative review necessarily doomed a play, pointing out examples to the contrary.

Legacy & Honors

• The Mansfield Theatre on Broadway was renamed the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in his honor in 1960.

• He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960.

• His collections of papers, output, and letters are held in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library. Scholars regard his archives as a vital record of 20th-century American theatre criticism.

• His influence is often cited in histories of theatre criticism and in reflections on how journalism interacts with art.

Representative Writings & Books

Some of his published works include:

• Skyline Promenades (1925)

• Henry Thoreau, The Cosmic Yankee (1927)

• East of the Hudson (1931)

• The Cingalese Prince (1934)

• Once Around the Sun (1951)

• New Voices in American Theater (1955)

• Once Around the Sun, Broadway (1970)

• This Bright Land: A Personal View (1972)

• The Lively Years, 1920–1973 (1973)

These works range from criticism and essays to personal reflections on theatre, culture, and life.