Jim Harwood, sometimes given as James Harwood, (April 1, 1938 – September 3, 1993,

Freestone, California Freestone is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. A former stone and logging town, Freestone is the entryway to the Bohemian Highway. In 1974, Freestone became the first historic district named by So ...

) was an American journalist, film critic, screenwriter, author, and television producer who spent the majority of his career writing film criticism and news stories for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' from 1969 through 1993. He also wrote an annual "Sex and Cinema" column for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''.

Career

After graduating from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

in the Spring of 1959, Harwood immediately began working as a reporter for ''

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 ...

'' at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. He left the journal in 1960, and spent the next ten years working as a television producer and writer in San Francisco. From 1969 through 1975 he worked as the part time San Francisco based reporter for ''

'', and in 1975 he moved to Los Angeles to take a full time position with that publication. For next thirteen years he wrote film criticism, columns on show business, and financial news stories for ''Variety'' in L.A. In 1988 he became ''Varietys first full time journalist based in San Francisco since the 1920s. He continued in that role until his death five years later of cancer at the age of 55. In addition to his work for ''Variety'', Harwood co-authored the cookbook ''Soul Food'' with Ed Callahan in 1969. He also wrote the annual "Sex and Cinema" column for thirteen years for ''

''.

References

External links

Online and extended obituary from Variety
1993 deaths American journalists American film critics Southern Methodist University alumni Playboy people Variety (magazine) people {{US-journalist-stub