Robert Osborne Has Died: A Most Eloquent Movie Fan

Robert Osborne, best known for his intelligent, revealing introductions to classic films broadcast on Turner Classic Movies, has died at 84. For more than two decades on the network, Osborne was a steady guide through movie history, introducing generations to cinema classics. He packed a lot of erudite information into his brief comments, speaking in a warm, conversational tone that set up the viewer for a hypnotic film-viewing experience.

Take a look at Osborne introducing what he calls “a spellbinder from 1945,” Leave Her to Heaven. Osborne burrows deeply into the career of Gene Tierney, “dazzling in Technicolor,” and placing her performance in its proper context in the history of women in film, and in so doing, also making an argument for raising the genre of melodrama to an art.

Osborne started out as an actor (he can be seen in the pilot episode of The Beverly Hillbillies), was mentored by Lucille Ball, and wrote a showbiz column for the Hollywood Reporter. He gave a wonderful interview to Gilbert Gottfried for the latter’s Amazing Colossal Podcast in 2015, praising the comedian for his taste in films (they discuss everything from Todd Browning’s Freaks to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation) and demonstrating what a superb storyteller Osborne was. I hope TCM continues to keep Osborne’s introductions affixed to the scores of movies he covered for the channel: I want to keep hearing Osborne’s voice forever.

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