Nat Hentoff
Biography
Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for The Village Voice from 1958 to 2009. Following his departure from The Village Voice, Hentoff became a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and continued writing his music column for The Wall Street Journal, which published his works until his death. He often wrote on First Amendment issues, vigorously defending the freedom of the press. Hentoff was formerly a columnist for: Down Beat, JazzTimes, Legal Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Progressive, Editor & Publisher and Free Inquiry. He was a staff writer for The New Yorker, and his writings were also published in: The New York Times, Jewish World Review, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Commonweal, and Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Known For & Full Filmography4 Titles
Movie - 1999, 2h 15m • as Himself
In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
Movie - 2000, 2h 15m • as Self - Writer
Hollywood careers are full of make-or-break moments. For Clint Eastwood, one such moment came when studio powers agreed to let him make his directing debut. That story and others comprise this portrait of the famed Hollywood icon. His career is explored via an array of film clips, interviews and more.
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • as Self (archive footage)
The outrageous, groundbreaking comic Lenny Bruce, whose iconoclastic material in a conservative era got him into tragic trouble, is profiled by a close friend, Fred Baker, who prefers to remember the laughs Lenny Bruce's memory evokes instead of the tears. By presenting Bruce's landmark skits on the Steve Allen Show, his failed TV pilot episode and a candid interview with Nat Hentoff, Bruce's genius and anguish show through the dramatic and tragic trajectory of his career from aspiring artist to hunted "lawbreaker".
Movie - 2013, 2h 15m • as self
'Pleasures' profiles legendary jazz critic and civil libertarian Nat Hentoff, whose pioneering career tracks the greatest cultural and political movements of the last 65 years. The film is about an idea as well as a man - the idea of free expression as the defining characteristic of the individual. Hentoff is a pioneering journalist who raised jazz as an art form and was present at the creation of 'alternative' journalism. 'Pleasures' wraps the themes of liberty and identity around a historical narrative that stretches from the Great Depression to the Patriot Act. With a mix of interviews, archival footage and music, it employs a complex non-linear structure to engage the audience in a life of independent ideas and the creation of an enduring voice.