Tribute: TCM’s Robert Osborne

We bid a sad farewell to Robert Osborne, the most gracious of gentlemen and the most devoted and erudite of movie fans.

Osborne’s love of old movies and the people who made them brought a new generation to movies made before their parents were born. His interviews were always fascinating and thoughtful and his books, including a history of the Oscars and a tribute to some of his most cherished favorites, are filled with illuminating insights and insider details.

Adam Bernstein’s touching tribute in the Washington Post noted:

As the suave, soothing public face of TCM, Mr. Osborne delivered revelatory tidbits before and after each screening, and he gently coaxed stars well past their prime (Patricia Neal, Tony Curtis, Betty Hutton) to speak tantalizingly of their career highs and lows.

Erudite without being snobbish, Mr. Osborne conveyed a seemingly limitless ardor for the job. He could enthuse about the 1940 Ann Sothern vehicle “Congo Maisie” as much as the Oscar-winning epic “Gone With the Wind” (1939).

The TCM host worked hard to intrigue first-time viewers, garnishing his segments with stories about backstage affairs and egos run amok amid filmmaking, and he tried to find new approaches to entice more-experienced viewers such as himself.

Like the movies he loved, he brought so much joy. May his memory be a blessing.