Alexander Walker (critic)

Alexander Walker (critic)

Alexander Walker (23 March 1930 - 15 July 2003) was a film critic, born in Portadown, Northern Ireland. He was educated at Queen's University, Belfast, the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium and the University of Michigan, and worked for the Birmingham Post in the 1950s, before becoming film critic of the London Evening Standard in 1960, a role he held until his death in 2003. He was a highly influential figure within the film industry, and also wrote a number of books including one on Stanley Kubrick, a history of the impact made on Hollywood by the rise of the talkies (The Shattered Silents) and a biography of Elizabeth Taylor. His most notable work is a history of British cinema, spread over three books: Hollywood England, National Heroes and Icons in the Fire.

From the early 1960s onwards he assembled a collection of more than 200 drawings and prints by modern artists, which were bequeathed to the British Museum upon his death in 2003. In 1968, he was a member of the jury at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival.

He is portrayed by Tim Jahn in a film, The Tony Blair Witch Project (2000).