The Bistro Awards team regrettably shares the news that one of our own—arts and entertainment journalist Robert Windeler—has passed away unexpectedly. He was 84. His cause of death is not yet known. His passing occurred in his Manhattan home, likely in the early morning hours of June 10. He had been in recovery from an injury that occurred several weeks ago, while in Durham, North Carolina, for an event at his alma mater, Duke University.
Robert Windeler at the 2020 Bistro Awards (Photo: Maryann Lopinto)
Robert was the author of 16 books, including biographies of Shirley Temple, Mary Pickford, Julie Andrews, and Burt Lancaster. One book project he was especially proud of was Sing a Pretty Song…: The “Offbeat Life” of Edie Adams, Including the Ernie Kovacs Years (1990), co-authored with Ms. Adams. At the time of his passing, he was preparing a memoir about the performers he came to know over the years of his long career.
As a West Coast correspondent for Time and The New York Times, he covered movies, music, and television. He was a longtime arts and entertainment critic for National Public Radio and a theatre critic for Back Stage, as well as contributing to many national publications, including TV Guide, Stereo Review, and People, for which he wrote 35 cover stories. A graduate of Duke University in English Literature, he also held a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, where he studied critical writing with Judith Crist.
A member of the Bistro Awards team from 2012 to 2020, Robert wrote dozens of cabaret reviews for this site and also served on the Bistro Awards selection committee. A true aficionado of cabaret, he would become friends with many members of the cabaret community in the years following his tenure as a Bistro Awards critic.
Bistro Awards co-founder and producer Sherry Eaker recalls the many years she worked with Robert, both for Back Stage and the Bistro Awards: “I met Robert for the first time at a theatre critics conference in Los Angeles back in the mid to late 1990s. I was impressed with his knowledge of theatre, his own writing background, and his easygoing manner. I eventually asked Robert to join the Back Stage freelance theatre reviewing staff. He reviewed for us up until the time I left my position as editor in 2008. That same year, I began our website, BistroAwards.com, and in 2012, I—once again—invited Robert—to review for us, but this time reviewing cabaret shows; he took to it like a fish takes to water. He eventually became part of our production team.”
Bistro Awards associate producer and features writer-columnist for the website, Mark Dundas Wood, became a close friend of Robert’s and a frequent cabaret-going companion: “He loved the intimacy of cabaret, especially when the performer somehow conveyed the notion that a lyric was directed specifically to him.”
Robert was a member of several entertainment-related clubs and organizations, including The Players, Dutch Treat Club, and the American Popular Song Society. Friends and colleagues of Robert’s plan to organize a celebration of his life, to happen sometime later this year. BistroAwards.com will provide details as they become available.
