Tom Shales

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Tom Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American critic of television programming and operations. He is best-known as TV critic for The Washington Post; in 1988, Shales received the Pulitzer Prize.

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[edit] Background and education

Born in Elgin, Illinois, Shales graduated from Washington D.C.'s American University. He was Editor-In-Chief of the student newspaper, The Eagle, for the 1966-1967 academic year[1], and appointed himself movie critic.[2]

[edit] Career

[edit] Early years

Shales's first job was with radio station WRMN, in Elgin, at the age of 18. He filled the station's AM and FM airwaves as disc jockey, local news reporter, writer and announcer. He later worked with Voice of America as a producer of broadcasts to the Far East.[3]

Shales worked as Entertainment Editor at the Washington Examiner from 1968-1971.[4] He joined The Washington Post as a writer in the Style section in 1972, was named chief television critic in July 1977, and was appointed TV Editor in June 1979. The Washington Post Writers Group has syndicated his column since 1979.[5]

[edit] The Washington Post

Shales has written for the Washington Post newspaper for several decades, and is generally credited for popularizing the idea of treating TV as seriously as theater or film from a critic's point of view.[citation needed]

[edit] Broadcasting

During 1998-1999, Shales was a frequent film critic for Morning Edition on National Public Radio.[6] He was twice a guest co-host on the television show Roger Ebert & the Movies after the death of Gene Siskel.[7]

[edit] Books

His books include Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (2002, co-authored with James Andrew Miller) about the peaks-and-valleys history and behind the scenes conflicts of NBC's long-running sketch comedy show, On the Air! and Legends: Remembering America's Greatest Stars.

[edit] Honors

Shales received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1988, for his work at The Washington Post.[1]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ American University Library - History of The Eagle
  2. ^ The Washington Post Writers Group
  3. ^ The Washington Post Writers Group
  4. ^ Tom Shales - Biography
  5. ^ The Washington Post Writers Group
  6. ^ ROTTEN TOMATOES: Tom Shales - Rotten Tomatoes
  7. ^ Tom Shales
Persondata
NAME Shales, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American critic of television programming and operations
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Elgin, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
United States  This article about a United States journalist born in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.