Kenneth Turan
Turan in 2014
Born	(1946-10-27)October 27, 1946 (age 79) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Education	Swarthmore College (BA) Columbia University (MA)
Occupation(s)	Film critic, author, lecturer

Kenneth Turan (/təˈræn/; born October 27, 1946)^[1] is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in theMaster of Professional Writing Program at theUniversity of Southern California.^[2] He was a film critic for theLos Angeles Times from 1991 until 2020 and was described byThe Hollywood Reporter as "arguably the most widely read film critic in the town most associated with the making of movies".^[3]

Turan was raised in an observantJewish family inBrooklyn, New York.^[4] He received a bachelor's degree fromSwarthmore College and a master's degree in journalism fromColumbia University.^[5][6] At Swarthmore, he was roommates with the mathematician and science fiction authorRudy Rucker.^[7]

Turan started his professional career around 1970s.^[3] Before becoming a film critic, Turan was a staff writer forThe Washington Post ^[8] from 1969 to 1978.^[9] In-between, he was a sportswriter in 1971, and by 1976 became a feature writer.^[9]

Turan was a film critic forThe Progressive, a magazine published in Madison, Wisconsin. He had also written forTV Guide,California magazine andGQ.^[3] In 1991 he became a film critic forThe Los Angeles Times.^[10] In 1993, he was named the director of theLos Angeles Times Book Prizes.^[11] Around 2000, Turan joined theNPR to cover theCannes Film Festival for them. After several years at NPR, he joined NPR'sMorning Edition as a film critic.^[2] Turan founded theKUSC radio programArts Alive. He provides regular movie reviews forNPR'sMorning Edition^[12] and serves on the board of directors of theYiddish Book Center.^[13]

Turan announced his retirement fromThe Los Angeles Times on March 25, 2020.^[14] The last film he reviewed was the German filmBalloon (2018).^[10][15]

Turan is featured in the documentaryFor the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009) discussing his public quarrel with film directorJames Cameron, who e-mailed theLos Angeles Times' editors calling for Turan to be fired after he wrote a scathing review ofTitanic (1997).^[16] Cameron accused Turan of an "incessant rain of personal barbs" and using his "bully pulpit not only to attack my film, but the entire film industry and its audiences".^[17]

• Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg; The Whole Equation (2025)
• Not to Be Missed: Fifty-Four Favorites From a Lifetime of Film (2014)
• Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told (2009) with Joseph Papp
• Now In Theaters Everywhere. (2006)
• Never Coming To A Theater Near You. (2004)
• Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made. (2002)
• Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke. (1987)
• I'd Rather Be Wright: Memoirs of an Itinerant Tackle. (1974)
• Sinema: American Pornographic Films and the People Who Make Them. (1974)
• The Future is Now: George Allen, Pro Football's Most Controversial Coach. with William Gildea (1972)

• 2006: Special Citation;National Society of Film Critics Awards.^[18]
• 2013: Luminary Award for Career Achievement;Los Angeles Press Club^[19]
• 2014:Media Legacy Awards;Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival.^[20]

• NPR biography
• USC Kenneth Turan
• Kenneth Turan atIMDb

• 1946 births
• Living people
• American film critics
• National Society of Film Critics Members
• Jewish American journalists
• People from Brooklyn
• Swarthmore College alumni
• University of Southern California faculty
• NPR people
• Los Angeles Times people
• Journalists from New York City
• 20th-century American journalists
• 20th-century American male journalists
• 21st-century American journalists
• 21st-century American Jews
• People from New York (state)
• 21st-century American male journalists

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