From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. (born January 22, 1937) is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States. Several of his first novels were set in Los Angeles, California, and its surroundings, and featured Los Angeles police officers as protagonists. Description above from the Wikipedia article Joseph Wambaugh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 22, 1937 (89)
- East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Writer and producer
- 8 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
What are Joseph Wambaugh's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 6
Light 0 · Serious 2 · Dark 5
Grounded 6 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 2 · Intense 4
Steady 1 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 2
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 3 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 4
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Joseph Wambaugh's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Joseph Wambaugh's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
20 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Echoes in the Darkness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Echoes in the Darkness(1987)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
The Glitter Dome (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1984)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
The Black Marble (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Friday Night, Saturday Morning (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
The Onion Field(1979)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
A Cry for Justice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
The Choirboys(1977)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Joe Forrester (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)
The Blue Knight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)
The Blue Knight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)
The Blue Knight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
The Blue Knight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Big John Morrison (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Police Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
The New Centurions(1972)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 19 titles from 1972 to 1993.
Biggest box office
The Onion Field (1979)
Highest rated
The New Centurions (1972)
Most popular right now
Echoes in the Darkness (1987)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Joseph Wambaugh's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 30th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 25th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 8 titles are Mixed.
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the dialogue 55/100 and the plot and story 40/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Joseph Wambaugh work with?
People who share at least 2 of Joseph Wambaugh's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; E. Jack Neuman shares the most, 2.
Writers
- E. Jack NeumanShared titles: Police Story: The Freeway Killings (1987), Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop (1980)See all 2 shared titles with E. Jack Neuman
- Mark RodgersShared titles: Police Story: The Freeway Killings (1987), Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop (1980)See all 2 shared titles with Mark Rodgers
Actors
- James B. SikkingShared titles: Police Story: The Freeway Killings (1987), The New Centurions (1972)See all 2 shared titles with James B. Sikking
- James WoodsShared titles: The Onion Field (1979), The Choirboys (1977)See all 2 shared titles with James Woods
Producers
- Jack GrossbartShared titles: From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One (1992), Echoes in the Darkness (1987)See all 2 shared titles with Jack Grossbart
- David GerberShared titles: Police Story: The Freeway Killings (1987), Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop (1980)See all 2 shared titles with David Gerber