Biography

Roger Ebert

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Roger Joseph Ebert was the all-time best-known, most successful movie critic in cinema history, when one thinks of his establishing a rapport with both serious cineastes and the movie-going public and reaching more movie fans via television and print than any other critic. He became the first and only movie critic to win a Pulitzer Prize (it would be 28 years before another film critic, Stephen Hunter, would win journalism's top tchotchke). His opinions likely were relied on by more movie-goers than any other critic in cinema history, making Roger Ebert the gold standard for film criticism.

Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, to Annabel (Stumm), a bookkeeper, and Walter Harry Ebert, an electrician. He was married to Chaz Ebert. Roger Ebert died on April 4, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jon C. Hopwood

As a result of suffering from thyroid cancer, he had to have his lower jaw removed. He lost all ability to speak, eat and drink. His legs were also weakened from unsuccessful attempts at building a new jaw from other bone and tissue. He was nourished through infusions and a tube and communicated via his computer or through signs he made with his hands. Despite all health problems, he continued to work as a movie critic.
Was an avid user and fanatic of IMDb (Internet Movie Database).
Wrote his review of Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) in first person as Garfield.
His top ten films of all time were: The General (1926), Citizen Kane (1941), Tokyo Story (1953), Vertigo (1958), La Dolce Vita (1960), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), Raging Bull (1980) and The Tree of Life (2011).
Estimated he saw well over 10,000 films in his lifetime.

I am utterly bored by celebrity interviews. Most celebrities are devoid of interest.
I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. I am grateful for the gifts of intelligence, love, wonder and laughter. You can't say it wasn't interesting. My lifetime's memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.
No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough
We live in a box of space and time. Movies are windows in its walls.
Old theatres are irreplaceable. They could never be duplicated at today's costs - but more importantly, their spirit could not be duplicated because they remind us of a day when going to the show was a more glorious and escapist experience. I think a town's old theatres are the sanctuary of its dreams.