Doors fans come in all shapes and sizes, from different countries, backgrounds, philosophies and different occupations, this past Thursday April 4, 2013 the world lost acclaimed film critic, and Doors fan, Roger Ebert at the age of 70.
Ebert was born in downstate Illinois in 1942, and grew up wanting to become a newspaperman. As a child he put out his own newspapers at a very early age. After graduating the University of Illinois in 1966 he was offered a job at the Chicago Sun-Times where he worked part time until April of 1967 when he was offered the job of movie reviewer. He later commented, “that I didn’t even know the job was open until the day I was given it.” Ebert was one of the first film reviewers to bring critical assessments to film reviewing. Before that, film reviews had either been done by reporters who had nothing better to do that day and wanted to see a movie, or those that were basically extensions of the movie studios’ marketing departments.
Ebert’s reviews quickly gained him an audience and success, he started hanging out with his heroes Mike Royko and Nelson Algren. He also lobbied against censorship in an age when large cities still had film boards that would approve of a film or render it banned. Ebert thought people should have the freedom to decide the merits of a film for themselves.
His greatest success came when he joined with rival film reviewer Gene Siskel from the Chicago Tribune to review movies on the TV show “Sneak Previews.” Siskel and Ebert were each other’s ying to their yang, Siskel then and balding, Ebert rotund and with a bit of a nerdier point of view argued the virtues or lack of virtues in movies. They argued about the movies, but you could always tell their was an underlying camaraderie that made the show a hit over the years and in various incarnations. At the height of their career, their show was carried on 200 TV stations across the country. Because of Siskel and Ebert the phrase “two thumps up” came into the American popular lexicon.
In a 1991 review of Oliver Stones “The Doors”, Ebert revealed that he was a Doors fan, although he couldn’t recommend the movie.
Ebert was a prolific writer having published 17 books as well as his weekly articles. He wrote “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” for Russ Meyer, and was hired to write a movie for the Sex Pistols. He also founded “The Overlooked Film Festival.” Ebert is survived by his wife Chaz, his stepchildren and grandchildren.
Thank you Roger for showing us the good movies and the reasons we should like them and why we should dislike the bad ones. Two thumps up for a life well lived.
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