Irv Letofsky, editor and critic was 76

Irv Letofsky, former editor of the L.A. Times Sunday Calendar section and a critic for the Hollywood Reporter, died Sunday of liver cancer at age 76. From the Reporter obituary:

[At the LAT] he assembled a covey of investigative reporters who, as one recalled later, "ripped the face off the entertainment industry" with stories involving such things as profit withholding at major studios and the hiring of psychics to predict the future of television pilots.

Among them were Peter J. Boyer, who became a staff writer for the New Yorker and the New York Times and the author of several books; Dale Pollack, who produced "The Mighty Quinn" and "Mrs. Winterbourne"; Michael London, producer of "Sideways"; Bill Knoedelseder, executive producer with Letofsky of "All the Presidents' Movies"; Dennis McDougal, author of "Five Easy Decades," the Jack Nicholson biography; and Debra Caulfield, author of "Smoked: The Inside Story of the Minnesota Tobacco Trial."

Letofsky left the Times in 1991 to join The Reporter as a television critic.

There's an appreciation thread from Barry Garron at the blog Past Deadline. BTW, the spellings above should be Dale Pollock and Deborah Caulfield.