By Robert Simonson
01 Oct 2009

Douglas Watt, a longtime critic for The Daily News whose career stretched from the Great Depression to the brink of the 21st century, died Sept. 29 in Southampton, Long Island.

Mr. Watt was one of the last links to the days when Broadway was a center of culture in America and was covered meticulously by more than a dozen newspapers. He joined The Daily News, one of New York's first tabloid newspapers, in 1936, soon after graduating from Cornell University at the age of 19. He started as a copy boy and stayed at the paper for more than half a century.

He was a radio columnist from 1937-40, a drama reporter from 1940-71 and the News' senior drama critic from 1971 on. He wrote the column "Small World" from 1955 to 1970.

Mr. Watt was one of the founders of The Drama Desk Awards, and was a member of the Drama Critics Circle, a member of the nominating committee for the Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Jury for Drama.

Mr. Watt's love of the theatre was such that, when William Shawn, the legendary editor of The New Yorker, attempted in 1945 to lure him away from the News, he declined, not wanting to give up his beat as a drama critic. Shawn countered by allowing Watt to write music reviews for The New Yorker part time.

The multi-talented critic also composed songs, including "After All These Years" and "Heaven Help Me." They were recorded by vocalists including Doris Day and Frankie Laine.

According to The Daily News, Watt once collaborated with Duke Ellington on a musical version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, but bowed out when the Shaw estate refused to approve Ellington, possibly because he was black.

He is survived by his wife, Ethel; two sons, Richard and James; two daughters, Patricia and Katherine, and eight grandchildren. He will be cremated. A memorial is planned.