Rex Reed, acerbic film critic famous for his TV and movie appearances, dies at 87

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/m...reed-dead.html

The longtime New York Observer film critic, who died this morning, “reviewed films and wrote about movie stars in prose that was graceful and evocative but often also the literary equivalent of a poison-tipped dagger plunged between the shoulder blades,” Clyde Haberman writes in Reed’s New York Times obituary. Years before film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were talk show regulars, Reed regularly visited The Dick Cavett Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, starting in the late 1960s. Reed was a celebrity roaster on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, he was a judge on The Gong Show and a panelist on To Tell the Truth. In 1986, Reed began co-hosting the syndicated At the Movies, replacing Siskel and Ebert, who exited after a contract dispute. He co-hosted At the Movies with Bill Harris through 1990. Reed played himself twice on Fox’s The Critic and was also known for his movie appearances, from Myra Breckinridge to 1978’s Superman, where he played himself.