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Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for The New York Times since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis.

A. O. Scott
Scott in 2016
Born	Anthony Oliver Scott (1966-07-10) July 10, 1966 (age 56) Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Other names	Tony Scott
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupation	Journalist film critic
Spouse	Justine Henning ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	2
Relatives	Joan Wallach Scott (mother) Eli Wallach (great-uncle) Anne Jackson (great-aunt)

Early life

Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in Northampton, Massachusetts.[1] Both of his parents were professors. His mother, Joan Wallach Scott, is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the School of Social Science in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.[2] His father, Donald Scott, is a professor of American history at the City University of New York. He is a great nephew of the married acting couple Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson (his maternal grandfather was Eli's brother).[3] Scott is Jewish.[4] He attended public schools in Providence, Rhode Island, including Classical High School before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in 1988 with a degree in literature.

Career

Print

Scott began his career at The New York Review of Books, where he served as an assistant to Robert B. Silvers.[5] Scott then served as book critic for Newsday, while also serving as a contributor to The New York Review of Books and Slate. In 1993, he wrote television reviews for Variety, using the name Tony Scott.[6]

He joined The New York Times' Arts section in January 2000, following Janet Maslin's retirement from film criticism. (Maslin continues to review genre fiction for the paper.) In 2004, he became chief critic, following Elvis Mitchell's resignation. Scott and the other film critics at the Times host a video podcast on the subject of film, called Critics' Picks.[7] He is also Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University.[8]

Better Living Through Criticism, a book on art criticism by Scott was published in 2016.[9]

On March 9, 2020, The New York Times announced that Scott would take a one-year break from his role as co-chief film critic and assume the title of critic at large, writing "bigger, cross-topic essays."[10]

Television

In 2006 and 2007, Scott served as a guest critic on Ebert & Roeper during Roger Ebert's absence due to thyroid cancer.

Between 2002 and 2014, Scott made 15 appearances on Charlie Rose, where he predicted the Academy Award winners and spoke about recently released films. He often appeared alongside David Denby of The New Yorker and Janet Maslin of The New York Times and guest-hosted the program on a number of occasions.

On August 5, 2009, it was announced that Scott, along with Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips, would take over hosting duties on At the Movies from Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, who would no longer be involved with the show.[11] Scott and Phillips began their duties when the show started its new season on September 5, 2009.[12] The show was canceled after one season due to low ratings, concluding its run in August 2010.[13]

Preferences

Favorites

In a 2009 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Scott named the following five films as his favorites of all time. [14]

1. La Dolce Vita
2. The Godfather
3. Sullivan's Travels
4. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

When asked to name the best of 21st century, Scott listed along with Manohla Dargis: [15]

Best of the year

Since becoming a film critic, Scott has named these films the best of the year:

Personal life

Scott is married to Justine Henning, and they have two children.[1][16]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Tales of the City: Hanif Kureshi's Rough Guide to London	Himself
2002-2014	Charlie Rose	Guest/Guest Host	15 episodes
2006-2010	At the Movies	Guest Host/Co-Host	66 episodes
2008	American Masters	Himself	Episode: "You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story"
2009	For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism	Himself
2010	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	Guest Expert	5 episodes
	The View	Himself	1 episode
	TCM Guest Programmer	Himself	Episode: "U.S. Critics"
	Up To The Minute	Guest Film Critic	1 episode
2011	The Early Show	Himself	1 episode
2013-2016	Jeopardy!	Video Clue Presenter	5 episodes
2014	Life Itself	Himself
	CBS This Morning	Himself	3 episodes
2015	Remembering David Carr	Himself
2016	PBS NewsHour	Himself	1 episode
	Generation X	Himself	2 episodes
2017	Spielberg	Himself
2021	WTF with Marc Maron	Himself	Episode: "A.O. Scott"

See also

• Lists of Jews associated with literature and journalism
• New Yorkers in journalism

References

External links

• A. O. Scott at IMDb 
• A. O. Scott: New York Times biography
• A. O. Scott: New York Times articles
• A. O. Scott: New York Times movie reviews

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