Respected and loved Australian movie critic David Stratton, 85, has died, his family announced on Thursday afternoon.
Stratton reviewed thousands of films with co-presenter Margaret Pomeranz on The Movie Show on SBS and At the Movies for ABC TV as well as in print.
His family said he died peacefully in hospital near his home in the Blue Mountains.
“David’s passion for film, commitment to Australian cinema, and generous spirit touched countless lives,” said his family in a statement.
“He was adored as a husband, father, grand and great grand father and admired friend.
“David’s family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming support from friends, colleagues, and the public recently and across his lifetime.”
Stratton, a Member of the Order of Australia, was considered a national treasure.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led an outpouring of tributes.
“With dry humour and sharp insight, David Stratton shared his love of film with our country,” said Albanese.
“All of us who tuned in to At the Movies respected him for his deep knowledge and for the gentle and generous way he passed it on. May he rest in peace.”
ABC radio veteran and known atheist Phillip Adams posted on X: “Vale David Stratton. Old friend and colleague now reviewing movies for the Almighty.”
Stratton retired in 2023 because of ill health, after a celebrated career as a film critic, writer, educator and historian that spanned 57 years.
An English migrant who arrived in Australia as a “ten pound Pom” in 1963, Stratton worked for SBS from 1980 as their film consultant and introduced the SBS Cinema Classics on Sunday nights.
His best-known role was co-hosting the long-running SBS TV program The Movie Show with Margaret Pomeranz, from 1986 to 2004, when they moved to the ABC to co-host At the Movies with Margaret and David.
They retired from the show in 2014.
He wrote six books and lectured in film history at the University of Sydney’s Centre for Continuing Education until 2023.
He also served as a jury member at many prestigious international film festivals throughout his career.
Stratton’s life was the focus of the documentary A Cinematic Life, which opened in 2017.
“It’s set in a period of Hollywood history that I find fascinating … And I grew up at a time when there was a new musical just about every week,” he said.
“All the popular songs that we were listening to – that’s where they came from. It was before the arrival of rock’n’roll and Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and all that sort of stuff.”
Stratton’s experience interviewing Gene Kelly, aka Singin’ in the Rain‘s Don Lockwood, also proved to be a defining moment in his career as a film critic.
“One of the most interesting days of my life was the one I spent with Gene Kelly at his home.
“He was so friendly and so kind and I was just this young and impoverished film critic doing an interview with this great entertainer … And he was lovely. We literally spent a whole day at his house and he made sandwiches and I just recorded him talking away.”
Stratton’s family issued a special request to moviegoers, asking that they celebrate his “remarkable life and legacy” by watching their favourite movie, or David’s favourite movie, Singin’ In the Rain.
Details of a public memorial service are expected to be announced soon.
-with AAP
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