17 Facts About Harry Knowles

Harry Jay Knowles was born on December 11,1971 and is an American former film critic and writer known for his website Ain't It Cool News.

Harry Jay Knowles was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Jarrell Jay Knowles and Helen Jane Knowles.

Harry Knowles' parents separated in 1983 and divorced March 12,1984; his mother received custody of him and his younger sister Dannie.

On January 24,1996, Harry Knowles tripped on a hose at a memorabilia show and injured his back, partially paralyzing his legs.

Harry Knowles launched the "Ain't It Cool News" site in 1996, taking its name from a line spoken by John Travolta's character in the film Broken Arrow.

Harry Knowles is featured in the documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism as an advocate of film criticism on the Internet; he articulates the divide between older and younger critics and advocates for the films of Michael Bay, as well as being one of the first major critics to champion genre favorite Adam Green.

From 1999 to 2016, on the weekend closest to his birthday, Harry Knowles hosted an event called Butt-Numb-A-Thon.

Harry Knowles is a co-founder of the annual Fantastic Fest, held in Austin.

Harry Knowles attended events offered to the press, paid for by the movie studios, including visits to movie sets and premieres, which led to questions about the resulting impartiality of his articles and reviews.

In 1999, Harry Knowles praised a script by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, but he did not mention that McWeeny was a contributor to the site.

In early 2000, Harry Knowles posted materials stolen from an ABC staffer's home computer, which Harry Knowles took at face value to be the Oscar nominees for the Academy Awards, a day before the official announcement.

Harry Knowles acknowledged his error when it became clear he was wrong, but then disclosed the IP address of the person whose computer had been hacked, compounding the error.

Harry Knowles had claimed that at his third birthday party, he was treated to a visit from the cast in full costume, and was given a prop dismembered body part used in the making of the film.

On March 11,2020, Harry Knowles posted "AN APOLOGY" on the site, three years after the accusations.

Harry Knowles married Patricia Cho Jones on July 15,2007, at Green Pastures in Austin.

In January 2011, Harry Knowles underwent emergency spinal surgery to his T-10 vertebra.

Harry Knowles was played by Ethan Suplee in the 2009 movie Fanboys.