Film Historian, Former Time Movie Critic Richard Schickel Dead At 84

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —    Noted film historian, author and former Time Magazine movie critic Richard Schickel has died.

Schickel was 84. He just turned 84 nine days ago.

He reportedly died in Los Angeles. His family told the LA Times Schickel died after a series of complications from a series of strokes.

There is something ironic and sad about his dying a week before the Oscars.

For nearly 60 years  his name was synonymous with film criticism and the arts.  He is often credited for elevating the art of film criticism.

The Milwaukee-born Schickel  started writing for Life Magazine in the early 60s but moved over to sister publication Time. He was Time's movie critic from 1965-2010.

As an author, he penned nearly 40 books on a wide variety of subjects he was passionate about including Carnegie Hall, Goya, tennis, and museums. He also wrote many acclaimed film biographies on stars and artists like Walt Disney, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, Lena Horne, Cary Grant, D.W. Griffith, James Cagney, Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood and Charlie Chaplin.

Schickel also directed and wrote dozens of documentaries, mostly about film.

He was a frequent film lecturer at Yale and USC's School of Film and Television.