New York Times Theatre critic, BEN BRANTLEY was born on this date; Born in North Carolina, Brantley received a B.A. in English from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and is a member of the Phi beta Kappa.

He joined The New York Times as a Drama Critic (August 1993). He was elevated to Chief Theater Critic three years later. Brantley is the editor of The New York Times Book of Broadway: On the Aisle for the Unforgettable Plays of the Last Century, a compilation of 125 reviews published by St. Martin’s Press in 2001.

He received the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for 1996-1997. He is the subject of the website, DidHeLikeIt.com, that uses a “Ben-Ometer” to translate current Broadway show reviews. The website also has reviews from Newsday, New York Daily News, Variety and USA Today and other major publications.

Brantley has been dubbed a “celebrity underminer”. In an article in The New York Times, published on January 3, 2010, he expressed his ambivalence about the “unprecedented heights” of “star worship on Broadway during the past 10 years”.

Brantley is gay, single and lives in New York City