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Mel Gussow (December 19, 1933 – April 29, 2005) was an influential American theatre critic who wrote for The New York Times for thirty-five years. His writing helped further the careers of: actors, such as Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, Matthew Broderick and Sigourney Weaver; playwrights, including Sam Shepard, David Mamet, John Guare, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee and Tom Stoppard; and theatre wunderkinds, such as Robert Wilson, Charles Ludlam, Richard Foreman, and Julie Taymor. He also enhanced the influence of Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatres.

He was born in New York City, grew up on Long Island, and attended Middlebury College, graduating in 1955 with a degree in American literature. He earned a master's degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 1956.

After two years in the army, he was hired by Newsweek, where he became a movie and theatre critic. His first review of a Broadway play was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962. It was a rave, and began a life-long relationship with the play's author, Edward Albee, resulting in Gussow's 1999 biography of the playwright, Edward Albee: A Singular Journey.

He wrote reviews for The Times for thirty-five years starting in 1969. His reviews were conceived of as collaborative rather than oppositional. He authored eight books, including a series of four which were "conversations" with playwrights Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Tom Stoppard.

He brought many new talents to public attention, including Athol Fugard, Mac Wellman, Michael Gambon, Bill Irwin, Spalding Gray, and Whoopi Goldberg.

He died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital from cancer. He was 71 and lived in Manhattan^[1].

Gussow is survived by his wife, Ann, and their son, Ethan. He also had a brother, Paul Gussow, a resident of Brooklyn^[1].

1. ^ ^{a b} McKinley, Jesse. "Mel Gussow, Critic, Dies at 71: A Champion of Playwrights." The New York Times, 1 May 2005.