Voting Station

Alexander Woollcott

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Critic

The Resume

    (January 19, 1887-January 23, 1943)
    Born in Phalanx, New Jersey
    Drama critic for the New York Times and New Yorker
    Hosted the CBS radio show 'The Town Crier' (1933-38)
    Wrote 'Shouts and Murmurs' (1922) and 'While Rome Burns' (1934)
    Inspired the character Sheridan Whiteside in the Kaufman-Hart play 'The Man Who Came to Dinner'

Why he might be annoying:

    In college, he was nicknamed 'Putt,' short for 'putrid.'
    The Shubert theater chain banned him over his caustic reviews.
    He used his radio show to promote his books.
    His editor at the New Yorker called him 'one of the most dreadful writers who ever existed.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He coined the phrase, 'All the things I really like to do are immoral, illegal or fattening.'
    He was a reporter for Stars and Stripes during World War I.
    He was a fan of the Marx Brothers, Orson Welles and Spencer Tracy.
    He was godfather to 19 of his friends' children and observed, 'Always a godfather, never a god.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 17 Votes: 5.88% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 43.48% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 23 Votes: 65.22% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 61.11% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 57 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 68.97% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 23 Votes: 65.22% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 24 Votes: 62.50% Annoying