Ann Hornaday, longtime Washington Post film critic, dies at 66
Ann Hornaday, the longtime film critic at The Washington Post, died Sunday at her home in Baltimore at age 66, The Baltimore Banner and The Hollywood Reporter reported. The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, her husband said. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for criticism in 2008.
Ann Hornaday, the former chief film critic of The Washington Post, died Sunday at her home in North Baltimore, The Baltimore Banner and The Hollywood Reporter reported. She was 66.
The cause of death was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, said her husband, Dennis Greenia, according to The Baltimore Banner. The Hollywood Reporter cited the Banner for the cause.
Hornaday was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for criticism in 2008, the Banner and The Hollywood Reporter reported. Former colleagues said she wrote carefully considered criticism with the everyday moviegoer in mind, which set her apart from critics who delivered scathing or pretentious takedowns, The Baltimore Banner reported. "Ann was a beautiful writer but she was also an extremely accessible writer," said Liz Seymour, a former managing editor at the Post, according to the Banner.
Born March 9, 1960, in Iowa City, Iowa, Hornaday grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Smith College in 1982 with a degree in government, the Banner and The Hollywood Reporter reported. In New York she worked at the feminist publication Ms magazine, the Banner and The Hollywood Reporter reported, and became co-founder Gloria Steinem's administrative assistant, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
She worked at newspapers including the Austin American-Statesman and The Baltimore Sun before joining the Post in 2002, The Hollywood Reporter reported. At the Post she became a national figure in film criticism and wrote hundreds of reviews, The Hollywood Reporter reported. She also appeared on WYPR's "Midday at the Movies," the Banner and The Hollywood Reporter reported. She left the Post in 2025 after taking a buyout, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
In 2017 she wrote "Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies," a practical guide for movie lovers, The Hollywood Reporter reported. She was also a longtime regular on the PBS NewsHour, which aired a remembrance Monday. In it, former Post executive editor Marty Baron said of her work: "She writes with great intellect. She always writes with great heart."
What we know: Hornaday died Sunday at 66 of glioblastoma, her husband said.
What we don't: Plans for a memorial service have not been reported.
Where outlets agree The Baltimore Banner and The Hollywood Reporter report that Ann Hornaday died Sunday at 66 at her Baltimore home after a battle with glioblastoma.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.