Edith Oliver

Edith Oliver (August 9, 1913 – February 23, 1998) was an American theater and film critic who contributed to The New Yorker magazine from 1947 to 1993. Before that, she wrote several radio quiz shows, including Take It or Leave It: the $64 Question, which she also produced. She is best known for her coverage of, and support for, Off-Broadway theater. In 1996 she was presented with the Lucille Lortel award for “Lifetime Dedication to Off-Broadway” by the Off-Broadway League.

Oliver was a staunch supporter of emerging playwrights. She spent 20 summers (1975–1995) advising playwrights on their works-in-process in her role as a dramaturge at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. The Conference’s founder, George White, described her this way, "She was packaged like the quintessential elderly lady that a Boy Scout would help across the street, except that she drank martinis, smoked cigarettes and could, on occasion, have a mouth like a sailor. She could be tough and would brook no banality, but she truly loved playwrights and loved the theater."