Brooklyn-born film critic Andrew Sarris rose to prominence during his long tenure with THE VILLAGE VOICE (1960-89) as America's leading proponent of the auteur theory of film analysis. Inspired by the ideas expressed in Francois Truffaut's landmark 1954 essay "Une Certaine tendance du cinema francais", he introduced to the USA the notion that film, ideally, is a medium of personal expression for the director, who deserved recognition as an 'auteur' in his 1962 essay called "Notes on the Auteur Theory". Almost immediately, he found a virulent opponent in Pauline Kael who fired back furiously in
Hit by a truck crossing the street c. 1948 "after seeing 'That Hamilton Woman' (1941) for the 37th time or something"; during convalescence (on crutches for about a year) started going to movies all the time
1952
Served in US Army Signal Corps
Was associate editor of FILM CULTURE
Served as story consultant at 20th Century-Fox
Worked for a time in the early 1960s as a case worker in New York City social services/city government
