Joe Baltake

Joseph John Baltake Jr. (September 16, 1945 – March 26, 2020) was an American film critic, film historian, author of the film blog The Passionate Moviegoer, and a biographer of the actor Jack Lemmon. His work was syndicated by Knight-Ridder, Scripps Howard News Service, and the McClatchy wire services.

Career Baltake's film reviewing career started at Gannett's suburban newspaper group, where his critiques appeared in several New Jersey–based newspapers and continued at Knight-Ridder's The Philadelphia Daily News and McClatchy's The Sacramento Bee. 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 New York Post, 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.