Alvin Klein (c. 1938 in

Brownsville, Brooklyn Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is generally bordered by Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant and Cypress Hills to the north; East New York to the east; Canarsi ...

– February 28, 2009) was a theater critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' for more than 15 years, publishing nearly 3,500 reviews and other articles.

Early life and education

Klein was raised in

Flatbush, New York Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, East Flatbush to the east, Midwood to the sou ...

. He obtained his degree from Brooklyn College and later received his master's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

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 Manha ...

Career

Klein began his career as an industrial psychological and management consultant. He later taught courses in English at public schools in New York City. He covered theater for The Times from the late 1970s until September 2004. Here, he wrote for the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, Long Island, and Westchester County sections. Prior, he worked for the radio station WNYC in 1966 where he would review and eventually worked his way up to become the opening-night theater critic until the 80s. In the 80s, he was the president of the Drama Desk, an organization that recognizes excellence in New York theater. He was also a member of the awards committee of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

Family

He was the son of immigrants from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. He was married to his wife Janet Ginsberg Klein, who died in 2001. Together they had a son named Gideon, a daughter named Alexandria Klein Rafaeli, and three grandchildren.

Death

Klein died at the age of 73 at his home in the East VIllage section of

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. stat ...

. The cause of his death was from a heart attack.

References

2009 deaths 1930s births American theater critics Brooklyn College alumni Columbia University alumni People from Brownsville, Brooklyn 20th-century American journalists American male journalists People from Flatbush, Brooklyn People from the East Village, Manhattan {{US-journalist-1930s-stub