Claudia Cassidy

Starting her career in 1925, she was at first a music and drama critic for The Journal of Commerce in Chicago before moving to the Tribune.

[1] She was so well known for giving caustic reviews to what she considered bad performances that she earned the nickname "Acidy Cassidy.

[3][4] In her music criticism, according to a 1993 article in the Chicago Reader, conductor Rafael Kubelik was "practically hounded out of town" by Cassidy.

[3] Her sustained praise for The Glass Menagerie over several columns is credited with rescuing the show from closing in tryouts and propelling it to move on to Broadway success.

[2] After her husband died in 1986, Cassidy lived at the Drake Hotel until her death in 1996 at the age of 96.