Pauline Kael height - How tall is Pauline Kael?

The evil "General Kael" in Willow (1988) was named after Kael, who had been critical of producer George Lucas; she was not amused.

Member of 'Official Competition' jury at the 30th Cannes International Film Festival in 1977.

Kael gave an isolated positive review to Jessica Lange's much-maligned debut performance in King Kong (1976), writing that Lange's screen presence reminded her of Carole Lombard. She also singled out Morgan Freeman's early performance in Brubaker (1980) as the highlight of the movie. Both Lange and Freeman went on to become highly respected Oscar-winning actors.

She published 13 books of her essays and criticism, and won the National Book Award in 1974, and wielded power and influence, even after retiring.

When her editor at the New Yorker, William Shawn, wanted her to rewrite her negative review of Badlands (1973) as director Terrence Malick was a family friend of his, Kael replied, "Tough shit, Bill".

Her first piece of film criticism for "The New Yorker" was a glowing review of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), written at a time when several critics were panning the film. Her review may have led to the film's eventual box office success and many Academy Award nominations the following year.

It is often erroneously reported that Kael was fired from McCall's magazine in 1966 for panning The Sound of Music (1965) in her film review column for the magazine. In truth, she was let go for disagreements with the editorial staff, namely panning several highly acclaimed or successful films including the aforementioned "The Sound of Music".

After success with national magazines in the 1960s and publishing her first book, "I Lost It At the Movies,", she became a film critic for The New Yorker in 1968, and wrote for that magazine until 1991.

She tried and failed to work as a playwright in her 20s, and began writing film reviews as a freelance writer for film journals in the 1950s.

Pauline Kael was born in Petaluma, CA, in 1919, and attended the University of California at Berkeley in the 1930s.