Anecdotes

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: Pacha royal (2006) in first person as Garfield.

Estimated he saw well over 10,000 films in his lifetime.

His top ten films of all time were: The General (1926), Citizen Kane (1941), Voyage à Tokyo (1953), Sueurs froides (1958), La dolce vita (1960), 2001: L'odyssée de l'espace (1968), Aguirre, la colère de Dieu (1972), C'est l'apocalypse (1979), Comme un taureau sauvage (1980) and L'arbre de la vie (2011).

Considered Les affranchis (1990) the best mob movie ever made.

As of December 2010, he has twice refused to assign a star rating to a film: once for Pink Flamingos (1972) and once for The Human Centipede - First Sequence (2009). In both cases, he explained his reasoning was that a film made to disgust the viewer cannot be judged as "good" or "bad", but either must be accepted for what it is or not at all.

Considered La vengeance de Jennifer (1978) to be the worst movie he has ever seen, then called its 2010 remake worse.

At the end of the 1990s, he and Martin Scorsese made a list of the top ten films of the decade. Roger's were: 1. Hoop Dreams (1994) 2. Fiction pulpeuse (1994) 3. Les affranchis (1990) 4. Fargo (1996) 5. Three Colors: Red, White and Blue 6. La liste de Schindler (1993) 7. L'amour est un pouvoir sacré (1996) 8. Adieu Las Vegas (1995) 9. Malcolm X (1992) 10. JFK (1991).

Believed the Academy's biggest mistake was giving Gladiateur (2000) the award for Best Picture' of the Year" in 2000.

In reference to a film adaptation of the Russ Meyer biography "Big Bosoms and Square Jaws", Roger said that he would want to be portrayed by either Jack Black or Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Met a young critic, Gene Siskel, in 1969 at a Chicago newspaper. They became friends for 30 years until Siskel's death on February 20, 1999.

Said that his favorite actress of all time was Ingrid Bergman.

His home had a mini-movie theater and a glass-enclosed workout room, plus a life-sized statue of Oliver Hardy.

Once told David Letterman that if he were trapped on a deserted island with only one film to watch, that film would be Citizen Kane (1941).

Claimed in his original review of Rocky (1976) that Sylvester Stallone was the "next Marlon Brando".

Panned Les enragés (1992) on his show while praising Un flic et demi (1993).

First person ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for film criticism; in 2003, Stephen Hunter of the "Washington Post" became the second.

He went to the draft for the Vietnam War and almost got in, but he was told he was overweight and was rejected. He was 26 years old and weighed 206 pounds at that time.

He had his right thumb trademarked.

His final published review was for À la merveille (2012).

Said his favorite actor was Robert Mitchum.

Despite undergoing debilitating cancer treatment and radiation in 2004, he continued his award-winning movie reviews, writing an incredible 274 reviews that year, plus 26 essays on great movies and 26 versions of his column "The Movie Answer Man". He also covered various film festivals (including Cannes) and the Oscars.

Was extremely angry when Hoop Dreams (1994) did not win a single Oscar, and was not even nominated for Best Documentary.

Said that the first movie he ever saw was A Day at the Races (1937) starring The Marx Brothers.

Hobbies: walking, reading, travel, sketching, cosmology, genetic evolution.

Had an extensive collection of cartoon character toys, dolls and action figures.

Shared the birthplace of Urbana, IL, with the character HAL 9000, as specified in 2001: L'odyssée de l'espace (1968) one of his favorite films. He held a birthday party for HAL 9000 at the University of Illinois in Urbana in 1997 (HAL's birth-date in the novel, not the film) celebrated with a screening of 2001 and its co-writer Arthur C. Clarke in attendance via satellite.

His fourth annual EbertFest of Overlooked Films held at Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL, drew almost 20,000 people over five days in March 2002.

Survived a bout with thyroid cancer, as well as a cancerous salivary gland tumor.

Chicago's Erie Way was renamed Siskel & Ebert Way in 1995.

The 1979 erotic biopic Caligula was one of the few films Roger Ebert ever walked out on. He walked out 2 hours into its 170-minute length runtime after feeling "disgusted and unspeakably depressed".

Shoulder surgery in May 2002 caused him to miss attending Cannes Film Festival for first time in 25 years. Broke left shoulder in two places after slipping on wet floor.

Drew criticism when he stated that he considered The Passion of the Christ (2004) to be "the most violent film I've ever seen". Many misinterpreted that to mean that he felt that the violence in the film was negative and exploitative (even though he gave it a glowing review). He stated in his Q and A column that "the effect of movie violence depends on subjective factors, including the purpose the filmmakers had in using it.".

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6834 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, CA on 6/23/05.

A life-size bronze statue of him was unveiled outside the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL on 4/24/14. The statue depicts him sitting in the middle of three theater seats, giving his "thumbs up".

Graduated from Urbana High School in Urbana, IL (1959). Sportswriter at age 15.

He and Gene Siskel were two of the few critics to give Ça va clencher! (1997) a positive review. Shortly before his death, he stated that his written review of it was the one he had to defend more than any other and also one some people often cited as an example of his being a poor film critic.

His widow is an attorney.

Wrote an introduction for the book "Mad at a Movies", a compilation of past movie satires from the pages of Mad magazine. He credits Mad's movie satires as one of his earliest inspirations for becoming a film critic.

Cited Le troisième homme (1949) as his favorite film for the AFI book "Private Screenings".

The rarest thing he would do in a review was give a film zero stars out of four.

Has a stepdaughter, Sonia, and three step-grandchildren.

Was a film lecturer at the University of Chicago Fine Arts Program.

Brother in the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

Died four days before Annette Funicello. Both could not eat, drink or talk in their last years; both were born in 1942 and died at age 70.

Attended the University of Illinois, won national college award for his campus newspaper columns.

Three of the five films he's chosen from 2000-04 as the best of the year have won their lead actresses the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Halle Berry in Le bal du monstre (2001) (his choice for the best film of 2001), Charlize Theron in Monstre (2003) (his choice for the best film of 2003) and Hilary Swank in La fille à un million de dollars (2004) (his choice for the best film of 2004).

After his death in 2013, he was included in the "In Memoriam" montage of the 2014 Academy Awards, a rare honor for a film critic.

His favorite film of the naughts was Synecdoche, New York (2008). His other top ten are Démineur (2008), Monstre (2003), Juno (2007), Moi, toi et tous les autres (2005), Chop Shop (2007), Le Fils (2002), 24 heures avant la nuit (2002), Presque célèbre (2000) and My Winnipeg (2007).