Adam Bernstein

Washington, D.C.

Obituary editor

Education: University of Virginia, BA; Columbia University, MA

Adam Bernstein grew up Connecticut. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. He worked at the Bakersfield Californian, covering cockfighting ("residents are crying foul about crying fowl") and other news stories; the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk; and the Gazette in Montgomery County, Md., before joining The Post in 1999. One of his feature stories for The Post led to the reprinting of Roger Hall's comic memoir of World War II espionage, "You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger."
Latest from Adam Bernstein

Alain Delon, angel-faced tough guy of international cinema, dies at 88

The French actor’s best roles, including the murderous Tom Ripley in “Purple Noon,” pitted his luminous beauty against his characters’ often dark souls.

August 18, 2024
Alain Delon in 1976.

Gena Rowlands, actress of lacerating intensity, dies at 94

She starred in “A Woman Under the Influence” and several other dramas directed by her husband, John Cassavetes.

August 14, 2024

William Calley, Army officer and face of My Lai Massacre, is dead at 80

He was the only person convicted in connection with the 1968 atrocity, in which American troops killed hundreds of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians.

July 29, 2024
Mr. Calley in 1970.

Lou Dobbs, cable-news pioneer and Trump media booster, dies at 78

Lou Dobbs, an early CNN star, moved into conservative punditry as a fierce immigration critic. His Fox Business Network show made him a ally of Donald Trump.

July 18, 2024
Lou Dobbs speaks at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md.

Donald Sutherland, ‘shape-shifty’ movie stalwart, dies at 88

After his breakthrough in “M.A.S.H.,” he went on to a versatile career in films such as “Klute,” “Animal House,” “Ordinary People” and “The Hunger Games.”

June 20, 2024

Anouk Aimée, enigmatic star of ‘A Man and a Woman,’ dies at 92

She excelled at portrayals of allure and caprice, notably in Federico’s Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” and became a leading figure of international cinema in the 1960s.

June 18, 2024
Marcello Mastroianni with Anouk Aimée in a scene from the film “La Dolce Vita,” 1960.

Janis Paige, comedic singing star of stage and screen, dies at 101

She was on Broadway in “The Pajama Game” and danced with Fred Astaire in the movie “Silk Stockings.”

June 3, 2024
Actress Janis Paige in 1949.

Ken Feil, Washington Post photographer, dies at 84

He captured a memorably intense image of Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they covered the Watergate scandal.

May 30, 2024
One of the most frequently reproduced photos by Ken Feil, showing reporters Bob Woodward, left, and Carl Bernstein in the Washington Post newsroom in April 1973 as the journalists pursued the Watergate scandal.

Dabney Coleman, actor who portrayed comic scoundrels, dies at 92

He created an acclaimed gallery of comically macho throwbacks in films including “9 to 5” and “Tootsie” and TV shows such as “The Slap Maxwell Story” and “Buffalo Bill.”

May 18, 2024
Dolly Parton and Mr. Coleman in "9 To 5" in 1980.

Louis Gossett Jr., commanding actor of TV and film, dies at 87

He won an Oscar playing a Marine drill instructor in “An Officer and a Gentleman” and an Emmy as a wise old enslaved person in the groundbreaking miniseries “Roots.”

March 29, 2024
Louis Gossett Jr., left, as Fiddler and LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte in the TV drama “Roots” in 1977. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images)