The voice of the American mainstream Roger Ebert

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Roger Joseph Ebert - author of more than 15 literary works, the famous American film critic and showman, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975. For 46 years, he was an indisputable authority for the audience of all social strata and the most demanding critic for filmmakers.

Ebert could afford, regardless of the opinion of his colleagues, to praise one film, as happened with "Django", and smash another to smithereens, as happened with the picture "Oz the Great and Powerful". After his death, Roger Ebert left a lot of witty quotes and wonderful reviews as a legacy to mankind. His apt expressions are known to every true cinephile.

Biography

Roger Ebert was born in the provincial town of Urbana, Illinois in 1942. His professional career began as a contributor to the Chicago Sun-Times. Although the public first became aware of perspective criticism in 1969 after the publication of his first author's review on Reader's Digestthe currently canonical horror film Night of the Living Dead.

In 1976, after joining forces with Gene Siskel, Ebert decides to try his hand at television, the duo's show airs for the first time in Chicago. He is expected to be a huge success, so in two years the show is broadcast nationwide. Further, like-minded people, not resting on their laurels, air three more show programs. In 2000 Richard Roper joins them. The three of them film the TV program Ebert & Roeper.

A talented person is talented in everything

Ebert not only wrote movie reviews, he created audio commentaries for the films Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Floating Grass, and Dark City on DVD. Repeatedly Roger acted as a screenwriter. He was the author of scripts for the films Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Bliss Valley, Stand Up!. Virtually no Academy Awards ceremony has been held without the presence of a film critic.

Ebert's (director's) favorite actor was Werner Herzog, it was he who opened the ceremony of laying Roger Ebert's personal star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

According to the publications of Forbes magazine, in 2007 Roger was recognized as the most respected critic of contemporary films in America.

Private life

Roger Ebert got married at a fairly respectable age - at 50 years old. Before that, for some time he was in a relationship with another celebrity - Oprah Winfrey. His official wife was Chaz Hemmel-Smith. Such a late ageThe critic explained the wedding with respect for his mother, who would be upset after his marriage. Creative life left an imprint on Ebert's lifestyle, in the late 70s he became addicted to alcohol, later joined Alcoholics Anonymous and said goodbye to addiction forever. Roger's close friend was film historian and critic Leonard M altin.

The voice of the American mainstream

Due to almost half a century of work on TV, the opinion of Roger Ebert had a solid weight for the average man in the street. His personality was perceived as the voice of the US mainstream. His impulsive-emotional approach to film evaluation delighted the viewer, although it was often out of tune with other critical voices. For example, he enthusiastically praised almost all the creations of Alex Proyas, although other experts were more than cynical about his work.

Last years of life

In 2002, Roger Ebert underwent several complicated operations due to thyroid cancer. As a result, the critic lost not only most of the larynx, vocal cords, but also the lower jaw. Despite his horrendous condition, he continued his life's work of writing reviews. Before his death in 2013, the critic released a review of the new creation of Terrence Malick melodrama "To the Miracle", which was written in a positive way and published after the death of the author. Ebert died on April 4, 2013.