Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert was a renowned American film critic, journalist, and author, best known for his work in popularizing film criticism through both print and television. Born in 1942 in Urbana, Illinois, he began his journalism career as a teenager and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1964. Ebert became the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967 and, in 1975, earned the distinction of being the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism. His collaboration with fellow critic Gene Siskel on television introduced the iconic "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" rating system, which became a cultural touchstone.
Ebert also created Ebertfest, an annual film festival celebrating overlooked films, and published several influential books on film, including "The Great Movies" series. Despite facing significant health challenges, including the loss of his ability to speak due to cancer treatments, Ebert continued to share his insights on film through blogging and social media until his passing in 2013. His legacy endures through his extensive reviews, writings, and the continued success of Ebertfest, organized by his wife, Chaz Ebert.
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Subject Terms
Roger Ebert
Film Critic
- Born: June 18, 1942
- Birthplace: Urbana, Illinois
- Died: April 4, 2013
Biography
Pulitzer Prize–winning film critic Roger Ebert began his career as a journalist at age fifteen, writing sports stories for the News-Gazette in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. Ebert was born in Urbana in 1942 and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1964. While in college, he edited the school newspaper, the Daily Illini, and sold his first articles to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Following a year at the University of Cape Town in South Africa on a Rotary scholarship, Ebert was hired by the Sun-Times in 1966, and was named the newspaper’s film critic in 1967. Ebert had embarked on a PhD at the University of Chicago but left the program to focus on his newspaper work. In 1969, Ebert took a hiatus from the Sun-Times to write the screenplay for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
In 1969, Ebert taught a film class offered by the University of Chicago extension program. In 1972, he attended the Cannes Film Festival for the first of many times. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for criticism. In that year, he began reviewing films on television with friend and fellow film critic Gene Siskel. In 1986, Ebert and Siskel began to employ a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” rating system for movies; the system proved so popular that Ebert later trademarked his thumb. The two critics’ collaboration ended, after nearly twenty-five years, with Siskel’s death in 1999. The television program went on to become a partnership between Ebert and Richard Roeper, which lasted from 2000 to 2006.
With his ties to film, to his hometown of Urbana, and to his alma mater, Ebert was the logical host for Cyberfest, held in 1997 at the University of Illinois. The event marked the observance of the fictional birthday and purported birthplace of the supercomputer Hal, featured in director Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001:A Space Odyssey. The event was something of a precursor to the annual Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival, inaugurated in 1999 and renamed Ebertfest in 2008. The festival featured both obscure films and well-known films that were underappreciated. Ebert justified his choices for the festival when he explained that there were many categories of “overlook-ed-ness.”
In 2001, Ebert was inducted into the Lincoln Academy, the highest honor of the state of Illinois. That year he also was inducted into the Illinois Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In 2005, Ebert received the Chicago TV Academy Silver Circle Award and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Ebert’s reviews were popular with many readers and viewers because of their wit and straightforward writing. Ebert praised many films in his book The Great Movies (2002), the first of a series, but maintained his selections should not be deemed definitive. A measure of Ebert’s devotion to unvarnished reviews was his unequivocal books I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie (2000), Your Movie Sucks (2009), and A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length (2012). In 2006, Ebert compiled a retrospective of his essays, interviews, and reviews, entitled Awake in the Dark. He published a memoir, entitled Life Itself in 2011.
Ebert endured a lengthy battle with thyroid cancer and several unsuccessful surgeries, which resulted in the loss of his lower jaw in 2006. During his final years, Ebert, having lost the ability to speak, continued his work as a film critic through social media, online blogging, and book publishing. Ebert died on April 4, 2013. His legacy of film criticism lives on, however, through his website and Ebertfest, which is hosted by his wife, Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert.
Bibliography
Ebert, Roger. Awake in the Dark. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2006. Print.
Ebert, Roger. Life Itself. New York: Grand Central, 2011. Print.
Ebert, Roger. "Roger Ebert: Remaking My Voice." TED. TED, Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
Martin, Douglas. "Roger Ebert Dies at 70; a Critic for the Common Man." New York Times. New York Times, 4 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
McMahon, Jeff. "Why Roger Ebert Was the Greatest Movie Reviewer." Forbes. Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.