Robert James Leslie Halliwell was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, Filmgoer's Companion (1965), a single volume film-related encyclopaedia featuring biographies and technical terms, and the eponymous Halliwell's Film Guide (1977), which is dedicated to individual films. For some years, his books were the most accessible source for movie information, and his name became synonymous with film knowledge and research. Anthony Quinton wrote in the Times Literary Supplement in 1977:Immersed in the enjoyment of these fine books, one should look up for a moment to admire the quite astonishing combination of industry and authority in one man which has brought them into existence.
