Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He was a film critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' from 1991 until 2020 and was described by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' as "arguably the most widely read film critic in the town most associated with the making of movies".

Early life

Turan was raised in an observant

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He received a bachelor's degree from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

and a master's degree in journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. At Swarthmore, he was roommates with the mathematician and science fiction author

Rudy Rucker Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...

Career

Turan started his professional career around 1970s. Before becoming a film critic, Turan was a staff writer for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' from 1969 to 1978. In-between, he was a sportswriter in 1971, and by 1976 became a feature writer. Turan was a film critic for ''

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Foll ...

'', a magazine published in Madison, Wisconsin. He had also written for ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'', '' California magazine'' and '' GQ''. In 1991 he became a film critic for ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

''. In 1993, he was named the director of the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prizes. Around 2000, Turan joined the NPR to cover the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

for them. After several years at NPR, he joined NPR's ''Morning Edition'' as a film critic. Turan founded the

KUSC KUSC (91.5 FM broadcasting, FM; "Classical California™ KUSC") is a listener-supported european classical music, classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and ope ...

radio program ''Arts Alive''. He provides regular movie reviews for NPR's ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 a ...

'' and serves on the board of directors of the Yiddish Book Center. Turan announced his retirement from ''The Los Angeles Times'' on March 25, 2020. The last film he reviewed was the German film

Balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

. Turan is featured in the documentary '' For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism'' (2009) discussing his public quarrel with film director

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

, who e-mailed the ''Los Angeles Times'' editors calling for Turan to be fired after he wrote a scathing review of ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' (1997). 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".

Publications

* ''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)

Awards

*2006: Special Citation; National Society of Film Critics Awards. *2013: Luminary Award for Career Achievement;

Los Angeles Press Club The Los Angeles Press Club is an American journalism organization founded in 1913. It honors journalists through its annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and SoCal Journalism Awards. As of 2023, the Los Angeles Press Club hosted ...

*2014: Media Legacy Awards; Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival.

References

External links

NPR biographyUSC
Kenneth Turan * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turan, Kenneth 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 personalities Los Angeles Times people Journalists from New York City 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American Jews