Richard Corliss, Time Magazine's Legendary Movie Critic Dies at 71

LOS ANGELES - Time magazine's legendary movie critic Richard Corliss died Thursday night at age 71. His wife Mary told the New York Times that the cause were complications due to a stroke he had suffered last week.

Richard Nelson Corliss was born on March 6, 1944, to Paul Corliss and the former Elizabeth McKluskey in Philadelphia. His father, ran a chain-link fencing manufactuing company and his mother was a first grade teacher. Upon graduation from St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, Corliss attended New York University ad earned a master's degree in film studies at Columbia.

Corliss met Mary Yushak in 1968, who at the time ran the film stills department at the Museum of Modern Art. They were married the following year.

Corliss wrote about film for The New York Times, National Review and other publications in the late 1960s and 70s. In 1970 he was named editor of Film Comment, a publication, devoted to covering independent films. In 1980, Corliss joined Time Magazine. He began as an associate editor and was promoted to senior writer in1985.

The veteran journalist a frequent guest on Charlie Rose's talk show, appearing 14 times, usually commented on new film releases, mostly working with Janet Maslin and David Denby. His most recent appearance was in December 2005 when he spoke about the year's major releases. Corliss also made appearances on A&E's "Biography" to talk about the life and work of Jackie Chan and appeared in former Time movie critic, Richard Schickel's acclaimed documentary about Warner Brothers.

Corliss' books include 1974's “Talking Pictures," a study, and critical defense, of American screenwriters; a 1994 examination of “Lolita,” Stanley Kubrick's controversial adaptation of the Nabokov novel; and the 2014 illustrated history, “Mom in the Movies: The Iconic Screen Mothers You Love and a Few You Love to Hate."

He is survived by his wife Mary and his brother Paul Corliss, of New Jersey.