WINTER, WILLIAM

(1836-1917)

Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the influential critic was educated at Harvard University to become a lawyer, but gave it up when he was inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to become a writer. Winter wrote poetry and became literary editor ofThe Saturday Pressin 1859 before joining the staff of theAlbionas its drama critic in 1861. He was appointed theNew York Tribune'sdrama critic in 1865 and remained there until he retired in 1909. His penchant for writing florid memorial tributes to deceased actors and his affection for 19th-century romanticism earned him the nickname "Weeping Willie."

Winter was well respected in his early years. However, with the appearance of Henrik Ibsen's social problem plays, Winter became a vocal opponent of the movement toward realism, believing that a clear moral outcome to a play was all-important. He found modernist drama inherently pessimistic and vigorously upheld old standards. Along with regular criticism in theTribune, Winter wrote for numerous other publications and authored several books, includingOther Days(1908),Old Friends(1909), andThe Wallet of Time(1913), along with biographies of notable theatre artists, includingEdwin Booth(1893),Ada Rehan(1898),Richard Mansfield(1910),Joseph Jefferson III(1913),Tyrone Power(1913), andDavid Be-lasco(1918, two volumes).