Editing Roger Ebert (section)

{{Short description|American film critic and author (1942–2013)}}
{{For|the website named after Ebert|RogerEbert.com{{!}}''RogerEbert.com''}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Roger Ebert
| image            = Roger Ebert cropped.jpg
| caption          = Ebert in 2006
| birth_name       = Roger Joseph Ebert
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1942|6|18|mf=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Urbana, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2013|4|4|1942|6|18|mf=y}}
| death_place      = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| occupation       = {{hlist|Film critic|journalist|screenwriter|film historian|author}}
| alma_mater       = [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| years_active     = 1967–2013
| subject          = Film
| notableworks     = {{flatlist|
* ''[[Sneak Previews]]''
* ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|At the Movies]]''
* ''[[The Great Movies]]''
* ''[[Beyond the Valley of the Dolls]]''
* ''Life Itself: A Memoir''
}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Chaz Ebert|Chaz Hammel-Smith]]|July 18, 1992}}
| awards           = [[Pulitzer Prize for Criticism]] (1975)
| signature        = Roger Ebert signature.png
| website          = {{URL|https://rogerebert.com}}
| portaldisp       = 
}}

'''Roger Joseph Ebert''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|b|ər|t}} {{respell|EE|bərt}}; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American [[Film criticism|film critic]], film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He was the film critic for the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern [[writing style]] and critical views informed by values of [[populism]] and [[humanism]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Zak |first=Dan |date=April 5, 2013 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/roger-ebert-lover-of-life-taught-me-to-write/2013/04/05/131daa82-9d76-11e2-a2db-efc5298a95e1_story.html |title=Roger Ebert, lover of life, taught me to write |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 29, 2020 |archive-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105235654/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/roger-ebert-lover-of-life-taught-me-to-write/2013/04/05/131daa82-9d76-11e2-a2db-efc5298a95e1_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences.<ref>{{cite news |last=Zeitchik |first=Steven |date=April 5, 2013 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-apr-05-la-et-mn-roger-ebert-reviews-film-newspapers-changed-20130405-story.html |title=Five unexpected ways Roger Ebert changed film journalism |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=April 29, 2020 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806203342/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-apr-05-la-et-mn-roger-ebert-reviews-film-newspapers-changed-20130405-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ebert endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, championing filmmakers like [[Werner Herzog]], [[Errol Morris]] and [[Spike Lee]], as well as [[Martin Scorsese]], whose first published review he wrote. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the [[Pulitzer Prize for Criticism]]. [[Neil Steinberg]] of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic,"<ref name=SunTimesObit>{{cite news |last=Steinberg |first=Neil |authorlink=Neil Steinberg|title=Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer |url=http://www.suntimes.com/17320958-761/roger-ebert-dies-at-70-after-battle-with-cancer.html |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=April 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216070113/http://www.suntimes.com/17320958-761/roger-ebert-dies-at-70-after-battle-with-cancer.html |archive-date=December 16, 2014}}</ref> and [[Kenneth Turan]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called him "the best-known film critic in America."<ref name="LA Times death Turan">{{cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |authorlink=Kenneth Turan |title=Remembrance: Roger Ebert, film's hero to the end |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-roger-ebert-appreciation-20130405,0,669989.story |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 4, 2013 |access-date=April 5, 2013 |archive-date=April 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427071136/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-roger-ebert-appreciation-20130405,0,669989.story |url-status=live }}</ref> Per ''[[The New York Times]]'', "The force and grace of his opinions propelled film criticism into the mainstream of American culture. Not only did he advise moviegoers about what to see, but also how to think about what they saw."<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news| author=Douglas Martin| title=Roger Ebert Dies at 70; a Critic for the Common Man| date=April 4, 2013| work=[[The New York Times]]| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/movies/roger-ebert-film-critic-dies.html}}</ref>

Early in his career, Ebert co-wrote the [[Russ Meyer]] film ''[[Beyond the Valley of the Dolls]]'' (1970). Starting in 1975 and continuing for decades, Ebert and ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' critic [[Gene Siskel]] helped popularize nationally televised film reviewing when they co-hosted the [[PBS]] show ''[[Sneak Previews]]'', followed by several variously named ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|At the Movies]]'' programs on commercial TV [[broadcast syndication]]. The two verbally sparred and traded humorous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase "two thumbs up," used when both gave the same film a positive review. After Siskel died from a [[brain tumor]] in 1999, Ebert continued hosting the show with various co-hosts and then, starting in 2000, with [[Richard Roeper]]. In 1996, Ebert began publishing essays on great films of the past; the first hundred were published as ''The Great Movies''. He published two more volumes, and a fourth was published posthumously. In 1999, he founded the [[Ebertfest|Overlooked Film Festival]] in his hometown of [[Champaign, Illinois]].

In 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with cancer of the [[Papillary thyroid cancer|thyroid]] and [[salivary gland cancer|salivary glands]]. He required treatment that included removing a section of his lower jaw in 2006, leaving him severely disfigured and unable to speak or eat normally. However, his ability to write remained unimpaired and he continued to publish frequently online and in print until his death in 2013. His ''[[RogerEbert.com]]'' website, launched in 2002, remains online as an archive of his published writings. [[Richard Corliss]] wrote, "Roger leaves a legacy of indefatigable connoisseurship in movies, literature, politics and, to quote the title of his 2011 autobiography, ''Life Itself''."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |date=April 4, 2013 |title=Roger Ebert: Farewell to a Film Legend and Friend |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2013/04/04/roger-ebert-farewell-to-a-film-legend-and-friend/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212155437/https://entertainment.time.com/2013/04/04/roger-ebert-farewell-to-a-film-legend-and-friend/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, ''Life Itself'' was adapted as a [[Life Itself (2014 film)|documentary of the same title]], released to positive reviews.