Famous for his many books about the cinema, including "A Biographical Dictionary Of The Cinema", which has gone through many editions since the 1970s, and "Have You Seen...?", a survey of 1,000 key films in cinema history.
Curator of the 60 Years of Berlinale retrospective "Play It Again...!" in 2010.
He was a close friend of the Irish film-maker Kieran Hickey.
In addition to being a prominent film critic, he has written several novels, some of which are movie-related.
His favorite film stars are Cary Grant, whom he has described as the greatest actor in film history, and Angie Dickinson.
Named one of his sons after the Montgomery Clift character in "Red River".