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Robyn Karney

1940 – 2017

British film historian

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About Robyn Karney

Lived 1940 – 2017 (aged 77). Robyn Karney was a British film critic.

Robyn Karney (4 January 1940 – 7 December 2017) was a South African-born London-based film writer and critic.

Karney was born in Cape Town, but raised in Johannesburg. A stage manager for the theatre companies of Brian Brooke and Leonard Schach, she emigrated to London in 1962. Karney edited several books on film including the massive historical works Chronicle of the Cinema (1995) and Cinema Year by Year (2000), both for DK Publishing, and Who's Who in Hollywood (1993). Karney was also the author of biographies of Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin and Burt Lancaster. With Ronald Bergan (1937–2020), she wrote the Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide (London: Bloomsbury, 1988, 1991, known as the Holt Foreign Film Guide, then The Faber Companion to Foreign Films in the United States). Her main job, however, was as a literary editor for major publishers.

On 6 January 2009, Karney appeared as expert witness on the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives with host Matthew Parris and fellow guest Tracy-Ann Oberman in an edition devoted to actress Bette Davis. Karney appeared again on Great Lives, on 12 May 2015, in an edition in which Antonia Quirke championed actor Marlon Brando, with Karney providing a dissenting voice.

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Frequently asked questions

Who was Robyn Karney?

British film historian

When was Robyn Karney born?

Robyn Karney was born on 4 January 1940.

When did Robyn Karney die?

Robyn Karney died on 7 December 2017.

What was Robyn Karney's occupation?

Robyn Karney was a film critic.

What nationality was Robyn Karney?

Robyn Karney was British.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Robyn Karney

· Wikidata: Q16240169

· DBpedia: Robyn Karney

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Robyn Karney. https://biography.guide/robyn-karney/

MLA: "Robyn Karney." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/robyn-karney/.

Chicago: "Robyn Karney." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/robyn-karney/.

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