Kerr, Walter [Francis] (1913–96), critic and playwright. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, and educated at De Pauw and Northwestern Universities, then from 1938 to 1945 he taught speech and drama at Catholic University in Washington. Kerr wrote librettos and/or sketches for the musicals Count Me In (1942), Sing Out, Sweet Land! (1944), and Touch and Go (1949), directing the last two as well. In 1950 he became drama critic for Commonweal and the next year for the Herald Tribune. It was during his tenure on this paper that he staged his wifeJean Kerr's comedy, King of Hearts (1954), and with her wrote the book for the musical Goldilocks (1958), which he directed. With the demise of the Herald Tribune in 1966, he became drama critic for the Times, but soon confined himself to Sunday critiques. Among his books are How Not to Write a Play (1955), Pieces at Eight (1957), The Decline of Pleasure (1962), Theatre in Spite of Itself (1963), and Journey to the Center of the Theatre (1979). Kerr's writings, known for their insight, readability, and intuitive sense of quality, earned him a Pulitzer Prize, and in 1990 Broadway's Ritz Theatre was renamed after him.

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