Joseph John Baltake Jr. (September 16, 1945 – March 26, 2020) was an American

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

, film historian, author of the film blog The Passionate Moviegoer, and a

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

of the actor

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

. His work was syndicated by

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

Scripps Howard News Service The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

, and the

McClatchy The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...

wire services.

Career

Baltake's film reviewing career started at

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.The Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

'' and McClatchy's ''

The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

''. He was the first-string film critic at both dailies. In all, he estimated that he professionally reviewed about 7,000 films throughout his career. He contributed articles on film to ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', '' Us'' magazine, " The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives" (Volume Six, 2000-2002) and ''Films in Review'', among others. Baltake also served on film festival juries, including the

Philadelphia Film Festival The Philadelphia Film Festival is a film festival founded by the Philadelphia Film Society held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The annual festival is held at various theater venues throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area. Overview The annual f ...

Bibliography

Film books he has written or edited include ''The Films of Jack Lemmon'' and its update, ''Jack Lemmon: His Films and Career'', published in 1977 and 1986, respectively, in the United States by

Citadel Press Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New York-based publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William"Walter Zacharius, Romance Publisher, Dies at 87,"''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender ...

and in Canada and Great Britain by Columbus Books. He was also an associate editor of John Willis' ''Screen World'', an annual film anthology from 1973 to 1993, when the anthology was published by

Crown Books Crown Books was a bookseller headquartered in Prince George's County, Maryland, with a Largo post office address. It was founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area by Robert Haft in 1977. Crown Books (retail) is of no relation to Crown Books ...

, and wrote the afterword for "The Films of Burt Reynolds" by Nancy Streebeck, published in 1982 by

Videography

Baltake has contributed commentaries to several DVD sets, including on-camera interviews for

Sony Entertainment Sony Entertainment, Inc. is an American entertainment company established in 2012. It focuses on most of Sony's motion picture, television and music businesses. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony Group Corporation, managed by Sony's America ...

's ''The Jack Lemmon Film Collection'' and

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

's ''The Apartment'' collector edition.

Accolades and honors

Writing awards given to Baltake included one from the Philadelphia Motion Picture Preview Group for "Honesty in Criticism" in 1986; "Best Commentary" award from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

, for a review of the 1994 documentary, ''

Hoop Dreams ''Hoop Dreams'' is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates and ...

'' in 1995, and the "Outstanding Achievement" award from the

Performing Animal Welfare Society The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a U.S.-based group for abandoned or abused performing animals as well as victims of the exotic animal trade. They claim 30,000 members. As a member accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS ...

/PAWS, in 1995 for "sensitive coverage of animal use in films" in a column on the mistreatment of animals, both simulated and real, on-screen.

Personal life

A graduate of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, Baltake was married to Susan Baltake, the founder of Grove Street Solutions, a consulting-marketing firm. He died of multiple myeloma on March 26, 2020.

Footnotes

Review of ''The Jack Lemmon Film Collection'', June 12, 2 009

Review of ''The Apartment'': Collector's Edition, February 6, 2008

Chris Lemmon's ''A Twist of Lemmon''

Nick Dawson's ''Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel''

External links

*
Joe Baltake's The Passionate Moviegoer

Joe Baltake on Flicks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltake, Joe American film critics American male non-fiction writers American film historians 2020 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma 1945 births Deaths from cancer in New Jersey