Ed Sikov
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Ed Sikov (born 1957,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
) is an American film scholar and author. His books include ''Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
'' (published in 2002), ''On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of
Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hol ...
'' (published in 1998), and ''Laughing Hysterically: American Screen Comedies of the 1950s'' (published in 1994).


Early life

Sikov was born in
Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania Natrona Heights is an unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located in Western Pennsylvania within the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, approximately northeast of Pit ...
, majored in English at Haverford College, and has a PhD from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
; Sikov has since written eloquently of the difficulties he experienced as a gay student in the 1970s. He has lived in New York City since 1979, and currently resides with his husband, Bruce Schackman.


Publishings

Sikov's most recent book is a textbook – ''Film Studies: An Introduction''; before that was ''Dark Victory: The Life of
Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
'' (Henry Holt, 2007). He recorded a
commentary track An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
for the Special Collector's Edition DVD of Billy Wilder's ''
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
'', and is often called upon as a film expert for articles and documentaries, such as the 10-part ''American Cinema'' series produced by the New York Center for Visual History in association with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. He has also written for the British and US editions of '' Premiere'' magazine as well as for '' Out'', '' The Advocate'', ''Connoisseur'', ''
Spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
'', ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' and ''
Film Quarterly ''Film Quarterly'', a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media, is published by University of California Press. It publishes scholarly analyses of international and Hollywood cinema as well as independent film, including d ...
''. Critical reception to Sikov's books has been appreciative: film historian
Jeanine Basinger Jeanine Basinger (born 3 February 1936, in Ravenden, AR), a film historian, retired in 2020 as the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies and Founder and Curator of The Cinema Archives at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. Education Ba ...
finds him "a caring biographer" who is exhaustive in his research; his writing has been noted for its unsentimental tone and detailed scholarship. While taking issue with his style, film critic
Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...
has acknowledged Sikov's accuracy and refusal to "whitewash" facts. Sikov has taught
film studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. ...
at several colleges and universities, including
Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...
and his alma maters
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and Haverford College. A course he taught at Haverford between 1995 and 2005, ''Sex and Gender on Film'', earned notice as "one of the most popular courses" at that institution. Sikov's contributions as an author and teacher have been curtailed by the onset of
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. He stopped writing the ''Media Circus'' column in the New York-based
Gay City News ''Gay City News'' (stylized as ''gcn'') is a free weekly newspaper based in New York City focusing on local and national issues relating to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. It was founded in 1994 as ''Lesbian Gay New Y ...
in early 2020.


Works

*''Film Studies: An Introduction'' *''Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis'' *''On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder'' *''Mr Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers'' *''Screwball: Hollywood's Madcap Romantic Comedies'' *''Laughing Hysterically: American Screen Comedy of the 1950s'' *''American Cinema Study Guide'' *(included in) ''Boys Like Us'', anthology *(included in) ''Friends and Lovers'', anthology


References


External links


Ed Sikov website

Media Circus archive, ''Gay City News''

Interview at NPR


* ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/AR2007110801971.html What a Bumpy Ride. ''The Washington Post'', November 11, 2007
Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis by Ed Sikov. ''The Sunday Times'', November 4, 2007


* ttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/oct/05/highereducation.biography Here, there and everywhere. ''The Guardian'', Saturday 5 October 2002
On Sunset Boulevard The Life and Times of Billy Wilder. ''Entertainment Weekly'', December 23, 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikov, Ed 1957 births Living people People from Harrison Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers Colorado College faculty Columbia University alumni American gay writers Haverford College alumni LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT people from Pennsylvania Writers from New York City Writers from Pennsylvania People with Parkinson's disease 20th-century American male writers Columbia University faculty Haverford College faculty