Richard Watts, Jr.

Richard Watts Jr. (January 12, 1898 – January 2, 1981) was an American theatre critic for the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Post. He was a war and foreign correspondent from the Spanish Civil War until the end of World War II.

Early life Richard Watts was born on January 12, 1898, in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He studied at Columbia University from 1917 to 1921.

Career In 1922, Watts joined the Brooklyn Times as a reporter. In 1936, Watts succeeded Percy Hammond as drama critic for the New York Herald Tribune. He continued in that role until 1942. In 1944, he reported in Chongqing and was press attache to Joseph Stilwell in China.

After returning from the war, Watts returned to work as a drama critic at the New York Post and reviewed daily from 1946 to 1974. He then wrote a Saturday column of criticism until his retirement in 1976.