Arthur Bingham Walkley, commonly known as A. B. Walkley, was an influential English drama critic and civil servant who successfully balanced a dual career for over four decades. Born in 1855, Walkley entered the General Post Office in 1877, where he served in increasingly senior administrative roles until his retirement in 1919. He deliberately avoided seeking the highest official positions within the civil service, choosing instead to preserve his time and intellectual energy for his passion for theatrical criticism.\n\nWalkley's journalistic career began in earnest alongside George Bernard Shaw at The Star, where he established his reputation as an astute observer of the contemporary stage. He is best remembered for his twenty-six-year tenure as the principal theatre critic for The Times, a position that cemented his status as a leading voice in late Victorian and Edwardian theatrical circles. His reviews and essays helped shape public taste during a transformative period for British drama. Upon retiring from the General Post Office in 1919, he spent the remaining six years of his life concentrating entirely on his writing, contributing essays and criticism to various publications until his death in 1926.
