Film and art critic and cultural historian who wrote an authorised biography of Alfred Hitchcock Film and art critic and cultural historian who wrote an authorised biography of Alfred Hitchcock John Russell Taylor, who has died aged 90, was a critic, biographer and cultural historian whose work helped to shape the understanding of theatre and cinema in postwar Britain. As a theatre, film and art critic for the Times for more than four decades – and the author of 40 books – he introduced readers