Leonard Maltin | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Maltin at the March 2022Santa Barbara International Film Festival | |
| Born | Leonard Michael Maltin (1950-12-18)December 18, 1950 (age 74) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | New York University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1965–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | June Foray Award (2002)[1] Inkpot Award (2013)[2] |
| Website | leonardmaltin |
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an Americanfilm critic,film historian, and author. He is known for his book of filmcapsule reviews,Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film critic onEntertainment Tonight from 1982 to 2012. He currently[when?] teaches at theUSC School of Cinematic Arts and hosts the weekly podcastMaltin on Movies. He served two terms as President of theLos Angeles Film Critics Association, and votes for films to be selected for theNational Film Registry.
He has written books on animation and the history of film. He has also hosted numerous specials and provided commentary for several films. In 2021, he released his memoir,Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood. He received theRobert Osborne Award fromTurner Classic Movies in 2022.
Maltin was born in New York City, the son of singer Jacqueline (née Gould; 1923–2012) and Aaron Isaac Maltin (1915–2002), a lawyer and immigration judge,[3] as part of a Jewish family, and raised inTeaneck, New Jersey.[4]
Maltin began his writing career at age 10, with a weekly magazine calledThe Bergen Bulletin. At 13, he started writing for the Pennsylvania-based8mm Collector, with a column called Research Unlimited, where he answered film questions. He began writing a monthly column for a Canadian publication,Film Fan Monthly, edited by Daryl Davy, dedicated to films from the golden age of Hollywood. In May 1966, Davy asked 15-year-old Maltin if he would take over as editor and sold the publication to him for $175.[5][6] At the time it had a circulation of 400 in 11 countries.[6][5] He expanded the circulation to 2,000 and continued to publish it until 1974.[6][7] In the December 1968 issue ofEsquire magazine, he wrote an article listing his 75 best movies shown on television and the 25 worst.[8] He also wrote forClassic Images.
Martin created a film society atTeaneck High School and graduated in 1968, later earning a journalism degree atNew York University.[6]
While at New York University, Maltin became film critic and associate editor for the university'sWashington Square Journal, as well as continuing to editFilm Fan Monthly. An English teacher at Teaneck High School suggested that Maltin meet a friend of hers at publisherNew American Library who was looking for someone to edit a film guide and in September 1969, at age 18, Maltin edited his first book,TV Movies, a compendium of synopses and reviews, with the subtitle, "Everything You Want To Know About More than 8,000 Movies Now Being Shown on TV".[7][9][10] In subsequent years, the book was regularly updated and then annually updated from October 1987 until September 2014, each edition having the following year's date. The book was later known asLeonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide and eventuallyLeonard Maltin's Movie Guide. In 2005, many films released no later than 1960 were moved into a spin-off volume,Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide, to allow the regular book to cover a larger number of more recent titles.
In 1970, his second book,Movie Comedy Teams, was published featuring teams such asLaurel and Hardy, theMarx Brothers andAbbott and Costello.[11] Maltin wrote program guides for the newly createdShowtime network and went on to publish articles in a variety of film journals, newspapers, and magazines, includingVariety andTV Guide.[7] In the 1970s Maltin also reviewed recordings in the jazz magazineDownbeat. Maltin served as the film critic forPlayboy for six years based onRoger Ebert's suggestion.[12] He also wroteBehind the Camera, a study of cinematography published in 1971.
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Starting on May 29, 1982, Maltin was the film reviewer on the syndicated television seriesEntertainment Tonight for 30 years. He praised theTournee of Animation (alongside the Los Angeles International Animation Celebration[13]) on the show at one point or another.[14][15] He also appeared on theStarz cable network, and hosted his own syndicated radio program,Leonard Maltin on Video, as well as the syndicated TV showHot Ticket with Boston film criticJoyce Kulhawik (originallyE! personality and game show hostTodd Newton). Maltin also hosted a television show calledSecret's Out onReelzChannel network. He also spearheaded the creation of theWalt Disney Treasures collectible DVD line in 2001,[16] and continued to provide creative input and host the various sets.[17]
During the 1980s and 1990s, Maltin served on the advisory board of theNational Student Film Institute.[18][19] In the mid-1990s, Maltin became the president of theLos Angeles Film Critics Association and is on the advisory board of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. For nearly a decade, Maltin was also on the faculty of theNew School for Social Research inNew York City. As of 2018, Maltin teaches in theSchool of Cinematic Arts at theUniversity of Southern California. In 1990, he took a look at theMGM years ofThe Three Stooges in a film calledThe Lost Stooges, available on a made-to-order DVD through theWarner Archive Collection. Maltin leftEntertainment Tonight in 2010. His final appearance on the show as a regular correspondent was on July 19, 2010. However he appeared onEntertainment Tonight having lunch with the Oscar nominees in 2012.[20][21]
He also wrote the introduction forThe Complete Peanuts: 1983–1984. In 1985, he delivered a three-word movie review onEntertainment Tonight for that year's horror film spoof,Transylvania 6-5000. The review begins with a silent Maltin swaying to a recording of theGlenn Miller Orchestra playing "Pennsylvania 6-5000", the instrumental melody interrupted by the sound of a telephone ringing (part of the original recording), after which the band chants the title of the song. In his review, Maltin timed it so that his review began with the phone ringing: "Transylvania 6-5000 ... stinks!"[22]
Maltin appeared on a week of episodes ofThe $25,000 Pyramid (1987) as a celebrity contestant alongsideAbby Dalton. Additionally, Maltin also appeared inGremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), playing a film critic who blasts the firstGremlins film, but is attacked by the Gremlins. This scene echoed real life, as Maltin gave the first film a bad review, finding it mean-spirited, which affected his friendship with directorJoe Dante. The scene was spoofed in theMad magazine parody ofGremlins 2, in which he protests being eaten asRoger Ebert gives a worse review of the film, only for the Gremlins to remark they are waiting until Thanksgiving to find Ebert, as "he will feed a family of 15!". Maltin was parodied in theSouth Park episode "Mecha-Streisand" (1998) where he,Sidney Poitier, andRobert Smith fight aGodzilla-like robot version ofBarbra Streisand.
Maltin voiced himself in theFreakazoid! episode "Island of Dr. Mystico", in which the titular villain, Dr. Mystico, abducted him to make use of his film knowledge.[23] Maltin was one of the few people to appear as a "guest star" onMystery Science Theater 3000 during its original run; during a Season Nine episode, he joins Pearl Forrester in torturing Mike Nelson and the bots with the filmGorgo.[24] He was also mocked on the show for giving the filmLaserblast a rating of 2.5 stars. After Mike and the Bots finish watching the movie, they express amazement at the rating while Mike reads off a list of well-known films that Maltin gave similar ratings to.[25] Maltin hosted a compilation ofNational Film Board of Canada animated shorts,Leonard Maltin's Animation Favorites from the National Film Board of Canada.[26]
ComedianDoug Benson'spodcastDoug Loves Movies features a segment called the Leonard Maltin Game, in which the guest must guess the name of a film based on a subset of the cast list in reverse order and a few intentionally vague clues from the capsule review of the film fromLeonard Maltin's Movie Guide. Maltin appeared on the podcast in February 2010 and played the game himself. He appeared on the show again in August 2010. In November 2010, Benson and Maltin played the game onKevin Pollak's Chat Show. Maltin repeated his appearances onDoug Loves Movies in September 2011 withJimmy Pardo andSamm Levine, in September 2012 withChris Evans andAdam Scott and in November 2013 withPeter Segal, "Werner Herzog" andClare Kramer.
Beginning in November 2014, Maltin has hosted the podcastMaltin on Movies. It began onPaul Scheer's now-defunct Wolfpop network, with comedian and actorBaron Vaughn as a co-host. The two picked a topic generally based on what was currently in theaters and discussed three other movies within that topic: one that the two both liked, one that the two disliked and one they thought was a great lesser-known film, or "sleeper", within the category. Topics included biopics, breakthrough performances and sequels.[27] Maltin currently co-hosts with his daughter Jessie Maltin.[28]
From 2014 to 2019, Maltin hosted the quarterlyTreasures From the Disney Vault onTurner Classic Movies. The last scheduled "Treasures from the Disney Vault" aired on September 2, 2019. Beginning in 2016, Maltin has served as the Honorary Head Juror of theCoronado Island Film Festival.[29] In 2020, the festival named their top awardThe Leonard Maltin Tribute Award.[30][31]
In 2019, Maltin along with his daughter Jessie Maltin created a film festival called MaltinFest atthe Egyptian Theater that spanned three days. Special guests includedLaura Dern andAlexander Payne.[32] Since 2018, Maltin has served on the advisory board forLegion M.[33]
In 2022, he was invited to join theAcademy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as part of the Member at Large branch.[34]
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide has been praised by comedianPatton Oswalt, who described it as "a paperback Kubrickian monolith of one man's massive and far-reaching tastes."[35] Other admirers includeNoah Baumbach,Alexander Payne, andBilly Bob Thornton.[36]
InThe Simpsons episode "A Star Is Burns",Marge says: "Did you know there are over 600 critics on TV and Leonard Maltin is the best looking of them all?"Lisa replies "Ewwww!"[37] In the 1995 video release of the originalStar Wars trilogy, there was an interview withGeorge Lucas conducted by Maltin before the start of the films. Maltin is listed in theGuinness Book of World Records for the world's shortest movie review; his two-star review of the 1948 musicalIsn't It Romantic? consists of the word "No", in response to the title.[38]
In 2020, a Leonard Maltin board game was released calledKing of Movies: The Leonard Maltin Game.[39]
Maltin lives in Los Angeles. He is married to researcher and producer Alice Tlusty, and has one daughter, Jessie, who works with him (his production company, JessieFilm, is named for her). In July 2018, Maltin announced that he had been diagnosed withParkinson's disease three and a half years prior.[40]
In 1998, Maltinsettled alibel suit brought by former actorBilly Gray, whom Maltin identified in his review of the filmDusty and Sweets McGee as a real-life drug addict and dealer. The statement had appeared in print in Maltin's annual movie guide for nearly 25 years before he publicly apologized for the error.[41][42]
Leonard Maltin was a so-so student. 'I was the only student in the history of Teaneck High School to fail a take-home, open-book exam,' he says with a mixture of pride and embarrassment.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Maltin, 67, who, when called for a comment on Alda's announcement, revealed that he has Parkinson's ... diagnosed 3½ years ago
