Film critic Patrick McGilligan was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 22, 1951. After graduating from the local school system, he attended the University of Wisconsin, receiving a degree in Communication Arts in 1974. As a student, McGilligan was known for both his work in journalism and his political activism. He was city editor, editor-in-chief, and fine arts editor of the Daily Cardinal; served as campus stringer for the New York Times; and contributed articles to the Capital Times, Liberation, the Velvet Light Trap and Film Quarterly. McGilligan was also one of a number of people active in the Karleton Armstrong Defense Committee; he testified at the extradition hearing for Armstrong in Toronto about the press reaction to the Sterling Hall bombing and in November, 1973, was himself arrested following a demonstration in Madison in support of Armstrong. Following graduation McGilligan became a member of the theater and arts staff of the Boston Globe where his writing was primarily concerned with the motion picture industry. More recently he has turned to free-lance writing, and in 1975 he published Cagney: The Actor as Auteur.
