:Tom Shales

Thomas William Shales was born in Elgin, Illinois, on November 3, 1944, to Clyde Shales (who had once been Elgin's mayor) and Hulda Shales, and graduated from Elgin High School in 1962.{{cite news|title=Tom Shales, Pulitzer-winning TV critic of fine-tuned wit, dies at 79 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/01/13/tom-shales-washington-ppost-tv-critic-obituary-dead/ |last1=Bernstein |first1=Adam |last2=Murphy |first2=Brian |date=January 13, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url-access=limited|accessdate = January 13, 2024}}{{Citation| last=Temkin| first=Jody| title=Test Your Celebrity Knowledge With This 'Who's Who?' Quiz| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| date=October 22, 1995| url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-22/features/9510220258_1_school-list-school-paper-buffalo-grove-high-school| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930014433/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-22/features/9510220258_1_school-list-school-paper-buffalo-grove-high-school| url-status=dead| archive-date=September 30, 2012| access-date=June 11, 2011| quote=Even when he was a student at Elgin High School in the 1960s, Tom Shales wasn't likely to be found at any homecoming celebrations ... But former classmates don't need to see Shales at homecoming to play that "whatever happened to so-and-so" game. Shales has been in the national spotlight as the television critic for the Washington Post since 1977, winning a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1988.}}{{Cite web |last=Vitello |first=Barbara |date=2024-01-17 |title=Elgin native, Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic Shales dead at 79 |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/20240117/news/elgin-native-pulitzer-prize-winning-tv-critic-shales-dead-at-79/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Daily Herald |language=en-US}} He attended Elgin Community College before transferring to American University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a degree in journalism and was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Eagle, for the 1966–1967 academic year, as well as the paper's movie critic.{{cite web|url=http://www.postwritersgroup.shales.htm|title=Tom Shales|website=The Washington Post Writers Group|access-date=October 19, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020812073458/http://www.postwritersgroup.com/shales.htm|archive-date=August 12, 2002}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.library.american.edu/about/archives/eagle_history.html|title=A Brief History of American University's Student Newspaper: The Eagle|website=American University Library|access-date=September 3, 2007|archive-date=June 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610152203/http://www.library.american.edu/about/archives/eagle_history.html |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/article/all-bork-and-no-bite|title=All Bork and no bite|work=Pulitzer Prizes|accessdate=January 13, 2024}}{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/arts/television/tom-shales-dead.html|title = Tom Shales, TV Critic Both Respected and Feared, Dies at 79|last = Williams|first = Alex|date = January 16, 2024|accessdate = January 16, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}}

Shales's first professional job was with radio station WRMN/WRMN-FM in Elgin at the age of 18. He served as the station's disc jockey, local news reporter, writer and announcer, on both the AM and FM bands. He later worked with Voice of America as a producer of broadcasts to the Far East.

Shales worked as entertainment editor at the D.C. Examiner, a tabloid newspaper, from 1968 to 1971. He joined The Washington Post as a writer in the Style section in 1972, was named chief television critic in July 1977, and was appointed TV editor in June 1979. His reviews were syndicated in newspapers nationwide. By 2006, his combined income from his salary and his syndication earnings neared $400,000 a year.

Shales was known for his withering putdowns of shows he disliked, and was nicknamed "Terrible Tom" and "the Terror of the Tube". His blunt style could polarize; Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994 wrote: "Forget the middle ground, Shales either loves it or hates it – and his reviews of TV shows and personalities are often unabashed paroxysms of that love or hate.... Like the medium he covers, Shales turns out fast-paced and amusing fare that often lacks depth".{{cite book|first=Terry|last=Eastland|title=Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994: A Critical Review of the Media|date=1994|page=114-115}} His influence was such that shows he panned would sometimes include unflattering references to him as inside jokes. Shales called such barbs "a TV critic's only shot at immortality".

His influence also extended to other critics. Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire who founded and served as president of the Chicago Film Critics Association, described him as setting a standard with writing that was "incredibly funny, creative, inventive and smart" and with a style more akin to a barroom discussion with readers than a lecture.

In 1988, Shales received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for his work at The Washington Post, including his coverage of the Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination hearings. From 1998 to 1999, he was a frequent film critic for Morning Edition on National Public Radio.{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-708/|title=Tom Shales|website=Rotten Tomatoes|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020902102313/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-708/|archive-date=September 2, 2002}} He was a guest co-host on the television show Roger Ebert & the Movies after the death of Gene Siskel.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com:80/SHOWBIZ/News/9902/16/showbuzz/|title=CNN Showbiz – February 16, 1999|website=CNN|date=February 16, 1999|access-date=January 14, 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010428120243/http://www.cnn.com:80/SHOWBIZ/News/9902/16/showbuzz/|archive-date=April 28, 2001}}{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=6980|title=October Sky, The 24 Hour Woman, Office Space, Jawbreaker, Tango, 1999|website=Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews|access-date=January 14, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=11226|title=8mm, The Other Sister, Just the Ticket, 200 Cigarettes, Eight Days a Week, 1999|website=Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews|access-date=January 14, 2023}} Shales was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1991 to 1996.{{cite web|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/george-foster-peabody-awards-board-members|title=George Foster Peabody Awards Board Members|website=The Peabody Awards|date=November 1, 2014|first=Wes|last=Unruh|access-date=October 19, 2015|archive-date=November 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101221151/http://www.peabodyawards.com/stories/story/george-foster-peabody-awards-board-members|url-status=dead}}

In 2006, Shales ceased to be a staff writer for the Post and went on contract, where he remained until 2010, when he was laid off entirely by the newspaper.{{Cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tom-shales-confirms-he-will-32124|title=Tom Shales Confirms He Will Leave Washington Post after 39 Years|first=Bryan|last=Alexander|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=October 22, 2010}}{{cite news|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tom-shales-im-leaving-wapo_n_772309|title=Tom Shales: I'm Leaving Washington Post, Am Heavily In Debt|work=The Huffington Post|date=October 22, 2010|accessdate=October 2, 2021}} From 2012 to 2014, he wrote a column for RogerEbert.com.{{cite news|url = https://www.rogerebert.com/tributes/wonderful-tom-tom-shales-1944-2024|title = Wonderful Tom: Tom Shales (1944–2024)|last = Seitz|first = Matt Zoller|authorlink = Matt Zoller Seitz|date = January 18, 2024|accessdate = January 18, 2024|website = RogerEbert.com}}{{cite web|url = https://www.rogerebert.com/tom-shales-at-large|title = Tom Shales at Large|website = RogerEbert.com|accessdate = January 18, 2024}}

Shales published four books, including two he co-wrote with James Andrew Miller. In 2002, Shales and Miller published Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, which covers the history of the sketch-comedy variety show, and provides a behind-the-scenes look at its stars and production process.{{Cite news|url=http://www.avclub.com/review/tom-shales-amp-james-andrew-miller-ilive-from-new--5852|title=Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller: Live From New York: An Uncensored History Of Saturday Night Live As Told By Its Stars, Writers & Guests|date=November 8, 2002|access-date=August 17, 2017|first=Nathan|last=Rabin|website=The A.V. Club}} The book was re-released in 2015 to coincide with Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary. The updated edition contained over 100 pages of new material.{{Cite news|url=http://splitsider.com/2014/09/an-updated-live-from-new-york-goes-inside-the-last-12-years-of-snl-history/|title=An Updated 'Live From New York' Goes Inside the Last 12 Years of 'SNL' History|date=September 9, 2014|work=Splitsider|access-date=August 17, 2017|language=en-US|first=Erica|last=Lies|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911114317/http://splitsider.com/2014/09/an-updated-live-from-new-york-goes-inside-the-last-12-years-of-snl-history/|archive-date=September 11, 2014}}

In 2011, Shales and Miller published their second book together, Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN, which chronicles the history of the network ESPN from its infancy in 1979 through 2010.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-xpm-2011-may-27-la-et-book-20110527-story.html|title=Book review: 'ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun'|last=Brownfield|first=Paul|date=May 27, 2011|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 17, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}} In 2015, Focus Features optioned the book to adapt it into a film.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports/news/espn-movie-book-jim-miller-those-guys-have-all-the-fun-focus-features/8fxu7ucpy22szii1xbsv3d1i|title=Movie based on ESPN book 'Those Guys Have All The Fun' is in development|date=February 17, 2015|work=Sporting News|access-date=August 17, 2017|first=Troy|last=Machir|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403001031/http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports/news/espn-movie-book-jim-miller-those-guys-have-all-the-fun-focus-features/8fxu7ucpy22szii1xbsv3d1i|archive-date=April 3, 2017}}

Shales died from COVID-19 and kidney failure at a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 13, 2024, at the age of 79.

• {{cite book|title=On the Air!|year=1982|location=New York|publisher=Summit Books|isbn=9780671442033|ol=3490676M}}
• {{cite book|title=Legends: Remembering America's Greatest Stars|year=1989|location=New York|publisher=Random House}} {{ISBN|978-0394575216}}
• {{cite book|title=Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live|year=2002|author=James Andrew Miller|location=New York|publisher=Little, Brown and Co}} {{ISBN|978-0316295062}}
• {{Cite book |title=Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN|last1=Miller|first1=James|last2=Shales|first2=Tom|publisher=Back Bay Books|year=2011|isbn=9780316043007|edition=1st Back Bay pbk.|location=New York|oclc=668192506}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130408214449/http://blogs.suntimes.com/shales/ Archive of Tom Shales' blog]
• {{C-SPAN|6422}}
• {{imdb name|1143576}}
• {{discogs artist|Tom Shales}}

{{PulitzerPrize Criticism}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shales, Tom}}

Category:1944 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century American journalists

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:American University alumni

Category:American male journalists

Category:American television critics

Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia

Category:Deaths from kidney failure in the United States

Category:Journalists from Illinois

Category:People from Elgin, Illinois

Category:Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners

Category:The Washington Post journalists

Category:Voice of America people