John J. O’Connor, a television critic for The New York Times for more than 25 years, died on Friday at his Manhattan home. He was 76.
According to news reports, the cause was lung cancer, which had been diagnosed only four weeks ago, said Seymour Barofsky, his partner of 47 years.
Born on July 10, 1933, in the Bronx, O’Connor and his three brothers were sons of immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. His father was a motorman in the New York City subway system.
O’Connor earned a bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York and a master’s degree from Yale.
He always aspired to be a critic, and began his journalism career in 1959, when he took a job at The Wall Street Journal in 1959 as a copy editor. When he left for the Times, 12 years later, he was arts editor as well as a theater and dance critic.
A respected critic with astute insights, O’Connor was known for assessing programming in terms of its artistic merit, and also for reflecting the perspective of the television industry as a whole, which during his tenure underwent significant changes, including the expansion of cable television as a viable alternative to the major broadcast networks.
He is survived by Seymour Barofsky, his partner of 47 years, and two brothers.