Leonard Maltin

Leonard Maltin (b. 1950) is a celebrity movie critic who made his mark during a thirty year tenure on Entertainment Tonight. His movie reviews have been published in the likes of Variety, TV Guide, and Playboy, and he has published several updated versions of his 1969 book Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.
Maltin paid tribute to Jim Henson following his death during a four-minute overview of his career on Entertainment Tonight. He closed out his segment, "On a news cast the other night, I heard Jim Henson referred to as 'the voice' of Kermit. Well, he was much more than that. He was the heart and soul of Kermit the Frog. And Kermit was very much Jim Henson: likeable and funny and straightforward. And perhaps I should add to that, irreplaceable."
A self-professed Muppet aficionado, Maltin provided introductions for the Fathom Events screenings of Labyrinth and The Muppet Movie in 2024. On "Rainbow Connection" losing the Academy Award to "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae, Maltin appeals to the audience, "Don't shame me for my feeling of sour grapes, even after all these years."
In 2017, Maltin hosted an hour-long conversation with Frank Oz at SXSW about Muppet Guys Talking. 
Among his many other accomplishments, Maltin has taught at USC School of Cinematic Arts, hosted the podcast Maltin on Movies with his daughter Jessie, and served on the United States National Film Preservation Board. In 1995, he hosted a trio of interviews with George Lucas for the VHS re-release of the Star Wars trilogy, where the topic of Jim Henson suggesting Frank Oz to play Yoda was discussed in some detail. As a film historian, Maltin's books, often focused on animation and short subjects, include The Disney Films, The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, and the first mainstream animation history book Of Mice and Magic. These have led to frequent appearances in home video and TV introductions or featurettes on these topics, notably each of The Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets.
In an acting capacity, Maltin played himself in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, making fun of himself for lambasting the original Gremlins. He also appeared in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and voiced himself in the Freakazoid! episode "Island of Dr. Mystico."
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Category:Celebrities