The Resume

(July 13, 1905-March 7, 1981)
Born in Lutherville, Maryland
Birth name was Francis Bosley Crowther, Jr.
Film critic for the New York Times (1940-67)

Why he might be annoying:

He originally turned down the job of cub reporter offered by the New York Times because he wanted to work for a small Southern newspaper. He reconsidered when none of the Southern newspapers offered even half of the Times’ $30-a-week salary.
He tended to write in a self-consciously formal style.
He caused a mini-scandal when he broke a deadlocked vote for the Best Actor Award of the New York Film Critics Circle by arguing that Charlie Chaplin would be the bigger draw when the awards aired on radio (1940).
He began to look increasingly out of step with audiences and fellow critics at the end of his career, most memorably when he dismissed ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ as ‘a cheap piece of bald-faced slapstick comedy.’

Why he might not be annoying:

He was the most influential film critic of his era.
He received the first Critics Award from the Directors Guild of America (1953).
He opposed the Hollywood blacklist during the McCarthy era.
He was an early booster of foreign film directors, including Vittorio de Sica, Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman.
He was a fan of movies to the end, seeing his last one (Roman Polanski’s ‘Tess’) one week before his death.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• B.C. or A.D.
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 63]
• Film Critics
• I Attended Princeton
• I Attended the New York Premiere of ‘Giant’ [October 10, 1956]
• I Attended the Premiere of 'Diary of Anne Frank' [1959]
• I Died in 1981 (Ranked: 75)
• I Named My Kid After Myself
• Known By a Middle Name
• Newspaper Journalists/Editors/Publishers
• Pauline Kael Doesn't Like Me
• Profiles 38251-38500 (Ranked: 38266)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying