Entertainment · Books & Arts · 39 mins ago
Washington Post Film Critic Ann Hornaday Dies at 66
Ann Hornaday, the Washington Post’s longtime film critic, has died at 66.
She died on Sunday, October 19, 2026.
Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, was the cause of her death.
Hornaday was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Her career at the Washington Post made her a longstanding voice in film criticism.
The available information does not give details about memorial plans or any successor.
Ann Hornaday, longtime film critic at The Washington Post, died at 66.
She died at her home in Baltimore on Sunday after a battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
Hornaday joined the Post in 2002 and left in 2025.
She was a 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism.
She wrote hundreds of reviews and stories and authored the book “Talking Pictures.”
- Who
- Ann Hornaday, longtime film critic at The Washington Post.
- What
- She died at 66.
- When
- Sunday, October 19, 2026.
- Where
- At her home in Baltimore.
- Why
- She died following a battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Hornaday graduated from Smith College with a major in government.
She joined The Washington Post.
She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.
She left The Washington Post.
Hornaday died at her home in Baltimore.
- Age
- 66
- Cause of death
- Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer
- Washington Post tenure
- 2002–2025
- Pulitzer Prize
- 2008 finalist in criticism
- Birthplace and birth date
- Iowa City, March 9, 1960
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What people are saying
For many years, Post readers were blessed by Ann’s informed, insightful, warm, accessible, and totally unique voice
Reading her work was like talking with a close — if much more knowledgeable — friend.