Jerry Tallmer, Theater Critic and Off-Broadway's Obie Awards Pioneer, Dies at 95

Jerry Tallmer, the theater critic who, in his early career at The Village Voice founded the Obie Awards, died at the age of 95 on November 9. His death was confirmed to The New York Times by his daughter, Abby Tallmer.

Born on December 9, 1920 in Manhattan, Tallmer enlisted in the Army Air Forces following the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Shortly after his tour in the Caribbean and the Western Pacific, he attended Dartmouth College, where he served as editor of the student newspaper.

Nine years later, in 1955, Edwin Fancher and Dan Wolf, two fellow World War II veterans, founded The Village Voice as an alternative to the traditional press. They soon recruited Tallmer, who had been working as an assistant editor at The Nation, to spearhead the new publication’s layout, headlines, ad space and more. He began working for no pay before becoming associate editor. The first issue featured a review from Tallmer of The Threepenny Opera, which ran at Theater de Lys in Greenwich Village. The cast included Bea Arthur, Lotte Lenya, Charlotte Rae and more. He was responsible for bringing on board writers that would become The Voice regulars, including Nat Hentoff and Andrew Sarris.

By the third issue, Tallmer had developed the idea for an award to celebrate the new downtown theater scene that the publication celebrated. As a result the Obie Awards were first given in 1956, with The Voice as sponsor, under the direction of Tallmer. He would run the program through 1962—when he resigned from the The Voice to join The New York Post as a drama critic, due to financial constraints at the former. Later in his career, Tallmer assumed positions at many other publications including Penthouse and The Villager.

In addition to Abby, Tallmer is survived by his wife, Frances Martin, and Abby’s twin brother Matthew.