Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the

Pulitzer Prize for Criticism The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by ...

in 2005. Morgenstern has also written for television.

Career

From 1965 to 1983 Morgenstern was film critic for ''

''. During this time, he panned ''

Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The c ...

'' and then reconsidered his opinion seriously enough to retract it in the next issue. That proved a golden marketing opportunity for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

to attract interest in the film by noting it made a major film critic change his mind about its virtues. From 1983 to 1988 he wrote a column for the '' Los Angeles Herald Examiner''. Morgenstern's writings have appeared in

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', the ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times Magazine The ''Los Angeles Times Magazine'' (also shortened to just ''LA'') was a monthly magazine which supplemented the Sunday edition of the ''Los Angeles Times'' newspaper on the first Sunday of the month. The magazine focused on stories and photos of ...

''.Joe Morgenstern - ''Wall Street Journal''.
Accessed April 29, 2022. He was a co-founder of the

National Society of Film Critics The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...

. Morgenstern has also worked in screenwriting. He co-wrote the 1976 television film '' The Boy in the Plastic Bubble'', and worked on several episodes of ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

''. Morgenstern began writing reviews for ''The Wall Street Journal'' in May 1995. His movie reviews appeared each Friday in the "Weekend & Leisure" section of the newspaper, and he covered the movie industry in a column which appeared every other Saturday. He received the

in 2005, making him only the third film critic to win a Pulitzer for criticism, after

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' and Stephen Hunter of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. In 2022, Morgenstern retired from ''The Wall Street Journal'', with his final column running in print on April 29, two days short of his 27th anniversary with the newspaper. During this time, he also contributed reviews for the Los Angeles-area radio station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

Personal life

Morgenstern was born in New York City, and graduated from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

in 1953. He was married to actress Piper Laurie from 1962 until their divorce in 1982; they adopted one daughter. Morgenstern lives in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

References

External links

Bio on Pulitzer Prize Site

"Joe Morgenstern '53: Pulitzer winner is essayist at heart"
from the Lehigh University Alumni Bulletin * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgenstern, Joe 1932 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American film critics National Society of Film Critics Members American male non-fiction writers American male screenwriters Journalists from New York City Lehigh University alumni American male television writers Newsweek people Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners The Wall Street Journal people Writers from Santa Monica, California