Charles Champlin | |
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| Born | Charles Davenport Champlin (1926-03-23)March 23, 1926 Hammondsport, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 16, 2014(2014-11-16) (aged 88) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Film critic |
Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an Americanfilm critic andwriter.
Champlin was born inHammondsport, New York. He attended high school inCamden, New York, working as a columnist for theCamden Advance-Journal and editor Florence Stone.[1] His family has been active in the wine industry in upstate New York since 1855. He served in the infantry in Europe inWorld War II and was awarded thePurple Heart and battle stars. He graduated fromHarvard University in 1948 and joinedLife magazine.
Champlin was a writer and correspondent forLife andTime magazine for seventeen years, and was a member of theOverseas Press Club. He joined theLos Angeles Times as entertainment editor and columnist in 1965, was its principal film critic from 1967 to 1980, and wrote book reviews and a regular column titled "Critic at Large". He co-founded theLos Angeles Film Critics Association, and was a board member of theAmerican Cinematheque.
Champlin's television career began in 1971 when he hostedFilm Odyssey onPBS, introducing classic films and interviewing major directors. That same year, he hosted a live music series,Homewood, forKCET, the Los Angeles PBS station. For six years he co-hosted a public affairs program,Citywatchers, on KCET with columnist Art Seidenbaum. He interviewed hundreds of film personalities, first on theZ Channel'sOn the Film Scene in Los Angeles, then withChamplin on Film onBravo.
Champlin taught film criticism atLoyola Marymount University from 1969 to 1985, was adjunct professor of film atUSC from 1985 to 1996, and also taught atUC Irvine and theAFI Conservatory. He also wrote many books, including his biographiesBack There Where The Past Was (1989) andA Life in Writing (2006).
In 1980, Champlin was on the jury of the feature film competition at that year'sCannes Film Festival, serving alongside the likes ofKirk Douglas,Ken Adam andLeslie Caron.[2] Twelve years later, in 1992, he was a member of the jury at the42nd Berlin International Film Festival[3] and served on the advisory board of theLos Angeles Student Film Institute.[4][5]
In his later years, starting in the late 1990s, Champlin hadmacular degeneration, and in 2001 wroteMy Friend, You Are Legally Blind, amemoir about his struggle with the disease. He died on November 16, 2014, aged 88, suffering fromAlzheimer's disease.[6]
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