Gene Siskel Pics

Gene

Siskel

26 January 1946

Slim

Brown - Dark

Chicago, Illinois

Aquarius

20 February 1999

White

Jewish

Siskel & Ebert

Male

American

75

Evanston, Illinois

(complication from brain surgery)

Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death.

Eugene "Gene" Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946–February 20, 1999) was an American film critic. Alongside colleague Roger Ebert, he pioneered the classic review show, Siskel & Ebert at the Movies. Born in Chicago, Siskel attended Culver Academies, graduated in Philosophy at Yale University in 1967 and began working for the Chicago Tribune in 1969. In 1975, Siskel teamed up with Roger Ebert, film reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times, to host a show on the local Chicago PBS station WTTW which eventually became Sneak Previews. Their "thumbs-up, thumbs-down" system soon became an easily recognizable trademark, popular enough to be parodied on comedy shows such as In Living Color and in movies such as Hollywood Shuffle and Godzilla. Sneak Previews gained a nationwide audience in 1978 when it was carried on PBS. Siskel and Ebert left WTTW and PBS in 1982 for syndication. Their new show, At the Movies was produced and distributed by Tribune Broadcasting, the parent company that owned the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV. Sneak Previews continued on PBS for 14 more years with other hosts. In 1986, Siskel and Ebert left Tribune Broadcasting to have their show produced by the syndication arm of The Walt Disney Company. The new incarnation of the show was originally titled Siskel & Ebert & the Movies, but later shortened to simply Siskel & Ebert. At the Movies also continued a few more years with other hosts. In 1998, Siskel underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. He announced on February 3, 1999 that he was taking a leave of absence but that he expected to be back by the fall, writing "I`m in a hurry to get well because I don`t want Roger to get more screen time than I." When both appeared together on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson conducted a "together and separately" interview with them, which at one point had each man in a soundproof booth while the other commented on his partner. When asked what he thought was the biggest difference between himself and Ebert, Siskel unhesitatingly replied: "I`m a better reviewer than he is." But a few moments later, he said that anyone who read a Roger Ebert review would read "an extremely well-written review." The last film he reviewed was the Sarah Michelle Gellar romantic comedy Simply Irresistible. He died from complications of the surgery two weeks later, at the age of 53.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Siskel

Eugene Kal Siskel

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