105 Facts About Roger Ebert

Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author.

Roger Ebert was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013.

In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Roger Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing voice and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism.

Roger Ebert was diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands in 2002.

Roger Ebert required treatment that included removing a section of his lower jaw in 2006, leaving him severely disfigured and unable to speak or eat normally.

Roger Joseph Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, the only child of Annabel, a bookkeeper, and Walter Harry Ebert, an electrician.

Roger Ebert was raised Roman Catholic, attending St Mary's elementary school and serving as an altar boy in Urbana.

Roger Ebert's interest in journalism began when he was a student at Urbana High School, where he was a sportswriter for The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois; however, he began his writing career with letters of comment to the science-fiction fanzines of the era.

At the Daily Illini Roger Ebert befriended William Nack, who as a sportswriter would cover Secretariat.

Roger Ebert spent a semester as a master's student in the department of English there before attending the University of Cape Town on a Rotary fellowship for a year.

Roger Ebert returned from Cape Town to his graduate studies at Illinois for two more semesters and then, after being accepted as a PhD student at the University of Chicago, he prepared to move to Chicago.

Roger Ebert needed a job to support himself while he worked on his doctorate and so applied to the Chicago Daily News, hoping that, as he had already sold freelance pieces to the Daily News, including an article on the death of writer Brendan Behan, he would be hired by editor Herman Kogan.

Roger Ebert attended doctoral classes at the University of Chicago while working as a general reporter at the Sun-Times for a year.

The load of graduate school and being a film critic proved too much, so Roger Ebert left the University of Chicago to focus his energies on film criticism.

Roger Ebert began his career as a film critic in 1967, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times.

In 1970, Roger Ebert wrote the first published concert review of singer-songwriter John Prine, who at the time was working as a mailman and performing at Chicago folk clubs.

Roger Ebert co-wrote the screenplay for the Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and sometimes joked about being responsible for the film, which was poorly received on its release yet has become a cult film.

In October 1986, while continuing to work for the Sun-Times and still based in Chicago, Roger Ebert replaced Rex Reed as the New York Post chief film reviewer.

Roger Ebert published more than 20 books and dozens of collected reviews.

In 2000, Roger Ebert interviewed President Bill Clinton at The White House.

In 2005, Roger Ebert became the first film critic to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Roger Ebert ended his association with the Disney-owned At The Movies in July 2008, after the studio indicated it wished to take the program in a new direction.

On February 18,2009, Roger Ebert reported that he and Roeper would soon announce a new movie-review program, and reiterated this plan after Disney announced that the program's last episode would air in August 2010.

On January 31,2009, Roger Ebert was made an honorary life member of the Directors Guild of America.

The last review by Roger Ebert published during his lifetime was for the film The Host, which was published on March 27,2013.

The last review Roger Ebert wrote was for the film To the Wonder, which he gave 3.5 out of 4 stars in a review for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Matt Zoller Seitz, the editor for Roger Ebert's website, confirmed that there were other unpublished reviews that would be eventually uploaded to the website.

In 2004, Roger Ebert appeared in the Sesame Street franchise's direct-to-video special A Celebration of Me, Grover, delivering a review of the Monsterpiece Theater segment of "The King and I".

Roger Ebert made an appearance as himself in a 1997 episode of the television series Early Edition, which took place in Chicago.

In 2003, Roger Ebert made a cameo appearance in the film Abby Singer.

On May 4,2010, Roger Ebert was announced by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences as the Webby Person of the Year, having taken to the Internet following his battle with cancer.

On October 22,2010, Roger Ebert appeared on camera with Robert Osborne on the Turner Classic Movies network during the network's "The Essentials" series.

Roger Ebert chose the films Sweet Smell of Success and The Lady Eve to be shown.

For many years, on the day of the Academy Awards ceremony, Roger Ebert appeared with Roeper on the live pre-awards show, An Evening at the Academy Awards: The Arrivals.

Roger Ebert was one of the principal critics featured in Gerald Peary's 2009 documentary film For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism.

Roger Ebert is shown discussing the dynamics of appearing with Gene Siskel on the 1970s show Coming to a Theatre Near You, which was the predecessor of Sneak Previews on Chicago PBS station WTTW.

Roger Ebert expressed his approval of the proliferation of young people writing film reviews today on the internet.

Roger Ebert provided DVD audio commentaries for several films, including Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Dark City, Floating Weeds, Crumb, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Roger Ebert was interviewed by Central Park Media for an extra feature on the DVD release of the anime film Grave of the Fireflies.

Roger Ebert explained that his star ratings had little meaning outside the context of the review.

Metacritic later noted that Roger Ebert tended to give more lenient ratings than most critics.

Roger Ebert argued for the aesthetic values of black-and-white photography and against colorization, writing:.

Roger Ebert championed animation, particularly the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.

Roger Ebert said that his favorite film was Citizen Kane, joking, "That's the official answer," although he preferred to emphasize it as "the most important" film.

Roger Ebert considered Buster Keaton, Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Altman, Werner Herzog, and Martin Scorsese to be his favorite directors.

Roger Ebert compiled "best of the year" movie lists beginning in 1967 until 2012, thereby helping provide an overview of his critical preferences.

Roger Ebert made similar reevaluations of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ran.

Roger Ebert compiled "best of the decade" movie lists in the 2000s for the 1970s to the 2000s, thereby helping provide an overview of his critical preferences.

Roger Ebert was often critical of the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system.

Roger Ebert advocated replacing the NC-17 rating with separate ratings for pornographic and nonpornographic adult films.

Roger Ebert frequently lamented that cinemas outside major cities are "booked by computer from Hollywood with no regard for local tastes," making high-quality independent and foreign films virtually unavailable to most American moviegoers.

Roger Ebert wrote that he drew a distinction between films like Nosferatu and The Silence of the Lambs, which he regarded as "masterpieces," and those that had no content other than teenagers being killed.

Roger Ebert occasionally accused some films of having an unwholesome political agenda, such as his assertion that Dirty Harry had a fascist moral position.

Roger Ebert was wary of films passed off as art, which he saw as lurid and sensational.

Roger Ebert leveled this charge against such films as The Night Porter.

Roger Ebert did not believe in grading children's movies on a curve, as he thought children deserved quality entertainment.

Roger Ebert gave favorable reviews of controversial films relating to Jesus Christ or Catholicism, including The Last Temptation of Christ, The Passion of the Christ, and Kevin Smith's religious satire Dogma.

Roger Ebert was described as an agnostic in 2005, but preferred not being "pigeon-holed".

Roger Ebert gave a one-star review to the critically acclaimed Abbas Kiarostami film Taste of Cherry, which won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Roger Ebert later went on to add the film to a list of his most-hated movies of all time.

Roger Ebert relished it, savored it, inhaled it, and after memorizing it rolled it on his tongue and spoke it aloud.

Roger Ebert recited to me from Lolita, and from Speak, Memory and Pnin.

Roger Ebert was an advocate and supporter of Asian-American cinema, famously coming to the defense of the cast and crew of Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow during a Sundance Film Festival screening when a white member of the audience asked how Asians could be portrayed in such a negative light and how a film so empty and amoral could be made for Asian-Americans and Americans.

Roger Ebert attended the Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder for many years, where he hosted a program called Cinemus Inerruptus.

In 2009, Roger Ebert invited Ramin Bahrani to join him in analyzing Bahrani's film Chop Shop a frame at a time.

Roger Ebert was a strong advocate for Maxivision 48, in which the movie projector runs at 48 frames per second, as compared to the usual 24 frames per second.

Roger Ebert was opposed to the practice whereby theaters lower the intensity of their projector bulbs in order to extend the life of the bulb, arguing that this has little effect other than to make the film harder to see.

Roger Ebert was skeptical of the resurgence of 3D effects in film, which he found unrealistic and distracting.

Roger Ebert maintained his position in 2010, but conceded that he should not have expressed this skepticism without being more familiar with the actual experience of playing them.

At age 50, Roger Ebert married trial attorney Charlie "Chaz" Hammelsmith in 1992.

Roger Ebert explained in his memoir, Life Itself, that he did not want to marry before his mother died, as he was afraid of displeasing her.

Roger Ebert was a recovering alcoholic, having quit drinking in 1979.

Roger Ebert was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and had written some blog entries on the subject.

Roger Ebert was a longtime friend of Oprah Winfrey, and Winfrey credited him with persuading her to syndicate The Oprah Winfrey Show, which became the highest-rated talk show in American television history.

Roger Ebert endorsed Barack Obama for re-election as president in 2012, citing the Affordable Care Act as one important reason for his support of Obama.

Roger Ebert was critical of intelligent design, and stated that people who believe in either creationism or New Age beliefs such as crystal healing or astrology should not be president.

In early 2002, Roger Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer which was successfully removed in February 2002.

Roger Ebert was confined to bed rest and was unable to speak, eat, or drink for a time, necessitating the use of a feeding tube.

Roger Ebert was unable to speak, instead communicating through his wife.

Roger Ebert returned to reviewing on May 18,2007, when three of his reviews were published in print.

Roger Ebert adopted a computerized voice system to communicate, eventually using a copy of his own voice created from his recordings by CereProc.

In 2011, Roger Ebert gave a TED talk assisted by his wife, Chaz, and friends Dean Ornish and John Hunter, called "Remaking my voice".

Roger Ebert underwent further surgery in January 2008 to try to restore his voice and address the complications from his previous surgeries.

Roger Ebert underwent further surgery in April 2008 after fracturing his hip in a fall.

In December 2012, Roger Ebert was hospitalized due to the fractured hip, which was determined to be the result of cancer.

Roger Ebert said our hearts were beating in unison, although my heartbeat couldn't be discovered.

Roger Ebert told the doctors I was alive, they did what doctors do, and here I am, alive.

Roger Ebert wrote with passion through a real knowledge of film and film history, and in doing so, helped many movies find their audiences.

Roger Ebert's was a theatrical personality: a raconteur, a spinner of dinner-table stories, a man who was not shy about his accomplishments.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral Mass held at Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral on April 8,2013, where Roger Ebert was celebrated as a film critic, newspaperman, advocate for social justice, and husband.

Roger Ebert had been an avid supporter of the festival since its inception in the 1970s.

At the 86th Academy Awards ceremony, Roger Ebert was included in the in memoriam montage, a rare honor for a film critic.

Director Steve James, whose films had been widely advocated by Roger Ebert, started making the documentary while Roger Ebert was still alive.

I've always tried to be a good soldier of cinema myself, so of course since he's gone, I will plow on, as I have plowed on all my life, but I will do what I have to do as if Roger Ebert was looking over my shoulder.

Roger Ebert was inducted as a laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.

In 2016, Roger Ebert was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

The site, now operated by Roger Ebert Digital, continues to publish new material written by a group of critics who were selected by Roger Ebert before his death.

Roger Ebert received many awards during his long and distinguished career as a film critic and television host.

Roger Ebert was the first film critic to ever win a Pulitzer Prize, receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1975 while working for the Chicago Sun-Times, "for his film criticism during 1974".

In 2003, Roger Ebert was honored by the American Society of Cinematographers winning a Special Achievement Award.

In 2005, Roger Ebert received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work on television.

In 2009, Roger Ebert received the Directors Guild of America Award's for Honorary Life Member Award.

In 2010, Roger Ebert received the Webby Award for Person of the Year.

In 2007, Roger Ebert was honored by the Gotham Awards receiving a tribute and award for his lifetime contributions to independent film.