William Benedict Herbert Nightingale (born 14 May 1939) is a British

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, formerly a regular

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

critic for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper. He was educated at Charterhouse and Magdalene College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. His first published theatre review was for the '' Tunbridge Wells Advertiser'' in 1957, a production of '' Look Back in Anger'' by a local amateur group. He worked for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as a reporter, and in 1969 was appointed drama critic of the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' in London, a post that he held until 1986 when he was appointed Professor of English with special reference to Drama at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He spent the whole of the 1983–84 season in New York, writing a series of Sunday theatre columns for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. His diary of the period was first published by Times Books in 1986 as ''Fifth Row Center: A Critic's Year On and Off Broadway''. He was appointed chief theatre critic for ''The Times'' in London in 1990, in succession to Irving Wardle. After two decades at ''The Times'', on 1 June 2010, Nightingale was replaced by journalist Libby Purves. This, its consequences and Nightingale's career as a critic were discussed by Mark Shenton in his 26 January 2010 theatre blog for ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

''. In 2010, Nightingale published a novel, ''What's So Flinking Bunny: The Spoonerisms and Misadventures of Tristram Throstlethwaite''. In 2012, he published ''Great Moments in the Theatre'', which examined some of what he considered the greatest moments in the history of the artform, from

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

' ''Oresteia'' to Jez Butterworth's ''Jerusalem''. Nightingale has contributed to many newspapers and journals, including '' Encounter'', '' London Magazine'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', '' Punch'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. He also appeared on radio and television.

Family

Nightingale is the son of Ronald Nightingale, an estate agent, and Evelyn Florence Margaret Winifred Gardner, whom he wed in 1937; she had previously been married to the writer Evelyn Waugh. Benedict Nightingale has a sister, the landscape architect Virginia Nightingale.

References

External links

Profile
theguardian.com; accessed 23 April 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale, Benedict 1939 births Living people Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge British male journalists British theatre critics People educated at Charterhouse School University of Michigan faculty Journalists from London People from Paddington