Kay Gardella

Legendary TV critic Kay Gardella dies

BY DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Daily News television critic Kay Gardella, whose blunt opinions and unapologetic love for the golden age of entertainment made her an institution at the paper for almost 60 years, died yesterday at Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan.

She was 82 and had been battling cancer.

Her last column ran March 19, when she cautioned viewers against the USA Network movie "Cool Money."

"One reason not to watch it," she wrote with classic directness, "is that it has little new to offer."

"She was one of the all-time great lady newspapermen," said Bill Gallo, the longtime News sports cartoonist. "She was a dogged reporter. She wouldn't quit till she got the story.

"Yet at a time when Frank Sinatra hated all women columnists, he still liked Kay - because even when she was tough, she was honest."

Born in Belleville, N.J., to Genevieve and Charles Gardella, she joined The News as a copygirl in 1946, two years after graduating from now-defunct Upsala College in New Jersey.

She worked on everything from murder scenes to the lifestyle feature "The Correct Thing," for which she often served as a model.

She eventually moved into covering the fledgling business of television. She was named radio and television editor in 1975, took over as TV critic in 1981 and became a columnist in 1993.

Over the years she wrote about and interviewed most show business greats, from industry magnates like William Paley and reporters like Edward R. Murrow to artists like Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Bette Davis, Johnny Carson and Audrey Hepburn.

She was legendary for her ability to pick up the phone and get Bob Hope or Gleason. She became close friends with Hope and his wife, Dolores.

Contemporary entertainers, she would often say, had lost the grace and style that defined the Hopes and Sinatras.

Gardella always came to the office fully attired in a dress or business suit and heels, plus a fresh hairdo, full makeup and jewelry. She was a tireless writer, routinely spending hours at her typewriter and later her computer.

She could challenge an editing decision as quickly and firmly as she would tear into a deficient TV show.

After a 1988 presidential debate between George Bush and Michael Dukakis, she wrote, "The best news is that there would be no more debates."

But she also had a wide sentimental streak, and if someone brought a child into the newsroom, she melted.

After a PBS special in which Katharine Hepburn reminisced about Spencer Tracy, she wrote, "There's nothing sadder than a woman who still misses the man she loved."

Among Gardella's awards over the years were an Emmy in 1992 and an honorary doctorate in fine arts from St. Francis College.

She hosted a cable television show and was a commentator on WNEW-AM and WOR-AM radio. She appeared on a number of early TV shows, including "What's My Line?"

She was married for many years to the late Anthony Marino, a reporter and editor with The News. She is survived by nieces Kathryn Hopson and Frances Gardella of Barnegat, N.J., and nephews Charles Gardella of North Arlington, N.J., a Daily News sports tabulator, and John Gardella of Port Richey, Fla.

Gardella lamented the passing of the golden age of newspapers along with the golden age of entertainment. She would reminisce about going to Toots Shor's after work to hang out with the newspaper-and-celebrity crowd.

"She was from the old school," said Gallo. "She was a great dame."