Andrew Sarris

ABOUT ANDREW SARRIS

Longtime film critic who introduced the radical - and influential - notion that the best films come from the vision of the auteurs.

He was taking a night course on film appreciation at Columbia College when the instructor introduced him to Jonas and Adolfas Mekas, who just launched a magazine they called Film Culture.

First introducing his auteur theory in the pages of Film Culture magazine, he went on to make a list of the top directors in the business - including names like John Ford , Charlie Chaplin , and Alfred Hitchcock .

He was born in Brooklyn, New York City as the son of Greek immigrants.

On the occasion of his death Roger Ebert called him "the most influential American film critic of his time, and one of the jolliest."