ROGER GREENSPUN

GREENSPUN--Roger.

Roger died on June 18 after a brief illness. He was 87. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he attended Yale University, where he received an M.A. in English literature. He came to New York in the early 1960s and began writing film criticism for various publications. From 1969 to 1973, he was a film critic for the New York Times. He also published reviews and articles in Moviegoer, Rolling Stone, Soho Weekly News, New York Free Press, Film Comment, and Penthouse magazine. He was a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and in the mid-1970s was on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. Roger, whose favorite film was Jean Renoir's French Cancan, began teaching film history and criticism at Rutgers University in 1970, retiring in 1995. He taught as well in the film division of the School of the Arts, Columbia University. He introduced his students to the auteur theory of film and to classic directors such as Hitchcock, Renoir, Ford, and Hawks. His friendliness, wry wit, and strongly argued opinions made a lasting impression on many of his students, to whom he was both mentor and friend. Roger loved classical music, was an avid sailor and maintained a small ketch, which he sailed out of City Island. As an especially gifted craftsman, he created many detailed ship models by hand. He is survived by his wife, Joanne.