Rex Reed, the film critic whose caustic reviews and pointed Hollywood interviews over six decades earned him the dubious reputation as a bad boy of entertainment journalism, died Tuesday morning.
Reed died at his home in New York City after a short illness. He was 87.
Rex Reed, Caustic Film Critic, Dies at 87 https://t.co/BbPcgopngT
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 12, 2026
From The Hollywood Reporter:
The Louisianian penned film reviews and columns for the New York Observer since the newspaper’s start in 1987 (he was laid off for a spell in 2017 before being rehired), and his final review was for the film Truth & Treason in November.
Earlier, he spent 13 years as an arts critic for the New York Daily News and five with the New York Post.
Reed was not the typical dowdy or frumpy critic. With his nasally drawl and fashionable attire, he was front and center in a profession where most writers of his time were behind-the-scenes personalities who shied from public exposure. His hauteur could be endearing or off-putting.
And from the New York Times (gift link):
He lived in the Dakota, one of New York City’s most prestigious buildings, in a two-bedroom apartment that he had bought in 1969 for $30,000.
He even had a brief film career in the 1970s and ’80s, most notably in the gender-bending comedy “Myra Breckinridge,” where Mr. Reed played Myron, who was transitioning to Raquel Welch’s Myra.
The movie was universally panned. It was so bad that Mr. Reed put it at the top of his own list of the 10 worst films of 1970.
You must read more of the NY Times obituary which lists many of Reed’s most infamous quotes and the feuds with actors his reviews fueled.
Rex Reed, who across six decades 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, died on Tuesday at 87.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) May 12, 2026 at 6:40 AM
I sat right next to Rex Reed during the NYFCC voting one year and he sighed and grumbled and cursed after every winner was determined. A very entertaining morning.
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) May 12, 2026
RIP REX REED pic.twitter.com/JAa2nR6eJF
— Patrick Brice (@patrick_brice) May 12, 2026
Rex Reed (1938-2026) film critic, author Reed was openly gay “Love is not something that I’ve been really good at. I think people are intimidated by people with opinions.” pic.twitter.com/9JshhDo3Sn
— jaradon (@jaradon2) May 12, 2026
Farewell to Rex Reed, one of the rare critics to acquire something like movie star status. (In fact, he was the man who became Raquel Welch in “Myra Breckenridge.”) He was also the first writer to attack me in print. I was thrilled. It felt more like a baptism than a slap. pic.twitter.com/zO2W4RWGXk
— Ben Brantley (@BenjBrantley) May 12, 2026
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