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Eugene Kal 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 a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his death in 1999. Siskel started writing for the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1969, becoming its film critic soon after. In 1975, he was paired with Roger Ebert to co-host a monthly show called ''Opening Soon at a Theater Near You'' airing locally on PBS member station WTTW. In 1978, the show, renamed '' Sneak Previews'', was expanded to weekly episodes and aired on PBS affiliates all around the United States. In 1982, Siskel and Ebert both left ''Sneak Previews'' to create the syndicated show '' At the Movies''. Following a contract dispute with Tribune Entertainment in 1986, Siskel and Ebert signed with Buena Vista Television, creating '' Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'' (renamed ''Siskel & Ebert'' in 1987, and renamed again several times after Siskel's death). Known for their biting wit, intense professional rivalry, heated arguments, and their trademark "Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down" movie ratings system, Siskel and Ebert became a sensation in American pop culture. Siskel remained in the public eye as Ebert's professional partner until Siskel's death on February 20, 1999, at age 53, from complications following his May 1998 brain surgery.


Early life

Siskel was born in Chicago, and was the son of Ida (née Kalis) and Nathan William Siskel. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Siskel lost both of his parents as a child and, as a result, was raised by his aunt and uncle, moving with them when he was nine years old. He attended Culver Academies and graduated from
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
with a degree in
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
in 1967, where he studied writing under Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Hersey. Hersey's reference assisted him in gaining a job at the '' Chicago Tribune'' in 1969.


Career


Writing

Siskel's first print review, written one month before he became the ''Tribune''s film critic, was for the film '' Rascal''. His review of the film was not favorable ("Because of the excessive gimmicky, most kids will miss the tenderness," he wrote). Prior to this he served in the US Army Reserve; he was a military journalist and public affairs officer for the Defense Information School. For a time afterwards, he was acquainted with Playboy magazine publisher, Hugh Hefner. In 1986, the '' Chicago Tribune'' announced that Siskel was no longer the paper's film critic, and that his position with the paper had been shifted from that of a full-time film critic to that of a freelance contract writer who was to write about the film industry for the Sunday paper and also provide capsule film reviews for the paper's entertainment sections. The demotion occurred after Siskel and Ebert decided to shift production of their weekly movie-review show, then known as '' At the Movies'' (later known as ''
Siskel & Ebert Gene Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) and Roger Ebert (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013), collectively known as Siskel & Ebert, were American film critics known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siskel's dea ...
''), from Tribune Entertainment to
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...
's Buena Vista Television unit. Editor James Squires stated on the move, "He's done a great job for us. It's a question of how much a person can do physically. We think you need to be a newspaper person first, and Gene Siskel always tried to do that. But there comes a point when a career is so big that you can't do that." Siskel declined to comment on the new arrangement, but Ebert publicly criticized Siskel's ''Tribune'' bosses for punishing Siskel for taking their television program to a company other than Tribune Entertainment. Siskel remained in that freelance position until his death in 1999. He was replaced as film critic by Dave Kehr. The last review published by Siskel for the '' Chicago Tribune'' was for the film '' She's All That'', published on January 29, 1999, in which he gave a favorable review, giving it three stars out of four and wrote that " Rachael Leigh Cook as Laney, the plain Jane object of the makeover, is forced to demonstrate the biggest emotional range as a character, and she is equal to the assignment. I look forward to seeing her in her next movie."


Siskel & Ebert

In 1975, Siskel teamed up with Ebert, film reviewer for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'', to host a show on 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 '' Second City Television'', '' In Living Color'', '' Bizarre'', and in movies such as '' Hollywood Shuffle'' and ''
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...
''. ''Sneak Previews'' gained a nationwide audience in 1977 when WTTW offered it as a series to the PBS program system. 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 of the ''Chicago Tribune'' and WGN-TV. ''Sneak Previews'' continued on PBS for 14 more years with other hosts until its cancellation in 1996. In 1986, Siskel and Ebert left Tribune Broadcasting to have their show produced by the syndication arm of
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...
. The new incarnation of the show was originally titled ''Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'', but later shortened to ''Siskel & Ebert''. ''At the Movies'' also continued for a few more years with other hosts until its cancellation in 1990. The last five movies Siskel reviewed with Ebert on the show before his death aired during the weekend of January 23–24, 1999. On the show, they reviewed '' At First Sight'', '' Another Day in Paradise'', '' The Hi-Lo Country'', ''
Playing by Heart ''Playing by Heart'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters. It was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, ...
'', and '' The Theory of Flight''. Siskel gave thumbs up to all of them, except for ''Playing by Heart''. Following Siskel's death, Ebert continued the series with rotating guest hosts, which included Martin Scorsese,
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
, Peter Bogdanovich, Todd McCarthy,
Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a film critic in the 1990s and remained there until February 2013. Career She has been featured on CNN, co-hosted '' Siskel & Ebert at the Mo ...
, Kenneth Turan. Elvis Mitchell, and the eventual replacement for Siskel, Richard Roeper.


Film and TV appearances

Siskel and Ebert were known for their many appearances on late-night talk shows, including appearances on '' The Late Show with David Letterman'' sixteen times and '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' fifteen times. They also appeared together on '' The Oprah Winfrey Show'', ''
The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...
'', '' Howard Stern'', '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', and '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In 1982, 1983, and 1985, Siskel, along with Ebert, appeared as themselves on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
''. For their first two appearances, they reviewed sketches from that night's telecast and review sketches from the "SNL Film Festival" for their last appearance. In 1991, Siskel, along with Ebert, appeared in a segment on the children's television series '' Sesame Street'' entitled "Sneak Peak Previews" (a parody of '' Sneak Previews'').Sesame Street – "Sneak Peak Previews" with SISKEL & EBERT
/ref> In the segment, the critics instruct the hosts Oscar the Grouch and Telly Monster on how their thumbs up/thumbs down rating system works. Oscar asks if there could be a thumbs sideways ratings, and goads the two men into an argument about whether or not that would be acceptable, as Ebert likes the idea, but Siskel does not. The two were also seen that same year in the show's celebrity version of " Monster in the Mirror". In 1993, Siskel appeared as himself in an episode of '' The Larry Sanders Show'' entitled "Off Camera". ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' chose his performance as one of the great scenes in that year's television. In 1995, Siskel and Ebert guest-starred on an episode of the animated TV series '' The Critic'' entitled "Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice". In the episode, Siskel and Ebert split and each wants protagonist Jay Sherman, a fellow movie critic, as his new partner. The episode is a parody of the film '' Sleepless in Seattle''. A very early appearance of Siskel, taken from '' Opening Soon at a Theater Near You'', the predecessor to ''Sneak Previews'', is included in the 2009 documentary film, '' For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism''. In the film, he is seen debating with Ebert over the merits of the film version of ''
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to: * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (play), a 1963 stage adaptation of the novel starring Kirk Douglas * ''One Flew Over the ...
''.


Critical style

Gene Siskel had an abrasive review style, and claimed his film criticism was an individual exercise that should not be swayed by public taste. In an interview for The Academy of Television and Radio, his TV co-host said of him, "I think Gene felt that he had to like the whole picture to give it a thumbs up." In particular, he often gave negative reviews to films that became box office champs and went on to be considered mainstream classics: '' Poltergeist'', '' Scarface'', '' Beverly Hills Cop'', '' The Terminator'', ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'', '' Predator'', '' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', '' Thelma & Louise'', and '' Independence Day''. This even extended to several films that went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture: '' The Silence of the Lambs'' and '' Unforgiven''. Yet, Ebert also noted in a memoriam episode of '' Siskel and Ebert'' that when Siskel found a movie that he truly treasured, he embraced it as something special. Directly addressing his late colleague, Ebert said: "I know for sure that seeing a truly great movie made you so happy that you'd tell me a week later your spirits were still high." Some of Siskel's most treasured movies included '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), '' Shoah'' (1985), '' Fargo'' (1996), and the documentary '' Hoop Dreams'' (1994).


Preferences


Favorites

One of Siskel's favorite films was '' Saturday Night Fever''; he even bought the famous white disco suit that John Travolta wore in the film from a charity auction. Another all-time favorite was ''
Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and ...
''. A favorite from childhood was '' Dumbo'', which he often mentioned as the first film that had an influence on him.


Best films of the year

Siskel compiled "best of the year" film lists from 1969 to 1998, which helped to provide an overview of his critical preferences. His top choices were: * 1969: '' Z'' * 1970: '' My Night at Maud's'' * 1971: '' Claire's Knee'' * 1972: '' The Godfather'' * 1973: '' The Emigrants'' * 1974: ''
Day for Night Day for night is a set of cinematic techniques used to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight. It is often employed when it is too difficult or expensive to actually shoot during nighttime. Because both film stocks and digital image se ...
'' * 1975: '' Nashville'' * 1976: '' All the President's Men'' * 1977: '' Annie Hall'' * 1978: '' Straight Time'' * 1979: '' Hair'' * 1980: ''
Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: M ...
'' * 1981: '' Ragtime'' * 1982: ''
Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...
'' * 1983: '' The Right Stuff'' * 1984: ''
Once Upon a Time in America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture produ ...
'' * 1985: '' Shoah'' * 1986: '' Hannah and Her Sisters'' * 1987: '' The Last Emperor'' * 1988: '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' * 1989: ''
Do the Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackso ...
'' * 1990: '' Goodfellas'' * 1991: '' Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse'' * 1992: ''
One False Move ''One False Move'' is a 1992 American crime thriller film directed by Carl Franklin and co-written by Billy Bob Thornton. The film stars Thornton alongside Bill Paxton and Cynda Williams. The low-budget production was about to be released straig ...
'' * 1993: '' Schindler's List'' * 1994: '' Hoop Dreams'' * 1995: '' Crumb'' * 1996: '' Fargo'' * 1997: ''
The Ice Storm ''The Ice Storm'' is a 1994 American novel by Rick Moody. The novel was widely acclaimed by readers and critics alike, described as a funny, acerbic, and moving hymn to a dazed and confused era of American life.Babe: Pig in the City'' From 1969 until his death in February 1999, he and Ebert were in agreement on nine annual top selections: ''Z'', ''The Godfather'', ''Nashville'', ''The Right Stuff'', ''Do the Right Thing'', ''Goodfellas'', ''Schindler's List'', ''Hoop Dreams'', and ''Fargo''. There would have been a tenth, but Ebert declined to rank the -hour documentary ''Shoah'' as 1985's best film because he felt it was inappropriate to compare it to the rest of the year's candidates. Six times, Siskel's number one choice did not appear on Ebert's top ten list at all: ''Straight Time'', ''Ragtime'', ''Once Upon a Time in America'', ''The Last Temptation of Christ'', ''Hearts of Darkness'', and ''The Ice Storm''. Six times, Ebert's top selection did not appear on Siskel's; these films were ''
3 Women ''3 Women'' is a 1977 American psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Robert Altman and starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. It depicts the increasingly bizarre, mysterious relationship between a woman (Duva ...
'', '' An Unmarried Woman'', '' Apocalypse Now'', '' Sophie's Choice'', '' Mississippi Burning'', and '' Dark City''.


Personal life

In 1980, Siskel married Marlene Iglitzen, who was then a producer for CBS in New York. They had two daughters, Kate and Callie, and a son, Will. Their daughters graduated from Siskel's alma mater, Yale University.


Brain surgery and death

Siskel was diagnosed with a malignant
brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seco ...
on May 8, 1998. He underwent brain surgery three days later. For a few weeks after the surgery he did the ''
Siskel & Ebert Gene Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) and Roger Ebert (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013), collectively known as Siskel & Ebert, were American film critics known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siskel's dea ...
'' show on the telephone (from his hospital bed) while Ebert was in the studio. Siskel eventually returned to the studio after his recovery, but was noted to appear more lethargic and mellow than usual. On February 3, 1999, he announced that he was taking a leave of absence from the show, but that he expected to be back by the fall, stating, "I'm in a hurry to get well because I don't want Roger to get more screen time than I." Siskel died on February 20, 1999 from complications of his brain surgery, and his funeral was held two days later at the North Suburban Synagogue Beth El. He is interred at Westlawn Cemetery in
Norridge, Illinois Norridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,251 at the 2020 census. The village and its neighbor to the east, Harwood Heights, together form an enclave within the city of Chicago (i.e. they are surrounded ...
.


Legacy

Siskel was a Chicago sports fan, especially of his hometown basketball team, the Chicago Bulls, and would cover locker-room celebrations for
WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington ...
news broadcasts following Bulls championships in the 1990s. Siskel was also a member of the advisory committee of the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a strong supporter of the Film Center mission.School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Gene Siskel Film Center
/ref> He wrote hundreds of articles applauding the Film Center's distinctive programming and lent the power of his position as a well-known film critic to urge public funding and audience support. In 2000, the Film Center was renamed The Gene Siskel Film Center in his honor. Only once during his long association with Ebert did Siskel ever change his vote on a movie during the review. He initially gave the film '' Broken Arrow'' a "thumbs up", but after hearing Ebert's criticism, Siskel changed his mind to "thumbs down". However, he had changed his opinions on films years after his initial reviews, as with '' Tremors'', which he gave a negative review to in 1990 but later gave a glowing positive review in 1994, stating, "I wasn't sure what I missed the first time around, but it just didn't click." Siskel said that he walked out on three films during his professional career: the 1971 comedy ''
The Million Dollar Duck ''The Million Dollar Duck'' (also titled as ''$1,000,000 Duck'') is a 1971 American comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions based on the goose that lays golden eggs scenario. It was directed by Vincent McEveety, and stars Dean Jones, S ...
'' starring Dean Jones, the 1980 horror film ''
Maniac Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior. Maniac may also refer to: Film * '' ...
'', and the 1996 Penelope Spheeris film '' Black Sheep''. When he mentioned walking out on ''Black Sheep'' in 1996, he said it was the first time he walked out on a movie he was reviewing since ''Million Dollar Duck'' in 1971; he later explained that he did not include ''Maniac'' because he did not review ''Maniac'' as an assignment for his newspaper or part of his and Ebert's weekly TV reviews but only as a "Dog of the Week", a feature of the TV show in which each critic would single out the very worst movie they had seen that week. Both critics had specific sensitivities and feelings that would often vary in extremes to certain kinds of bad films. Ebert was very sensitive to films about race and ethnicity; Siskel was sensitive to films about families and family relationships, and had a special hatred for films like '' House Arrest'' (1996) and '' Like Father Like Son'' (1987), both of which were about parents and their children. Following Siskel's death in 1999, Ebert wrote: Ebert once said of his relationship with Siskel: When both men appeared together on '' The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers'',
Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
conducted a "together and separately" interview with them, which at one point had each men wear Walkman-style headphones, playing loud music, 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 an Ebert review would read "an extremely well-written review". At the 1999 Academy Awards ceremony, after its ''in memoriam'' montage of deceased stars and film contributors (which did not include Siskel), host Whoopi Goldberg gave a brief impromptu tribute to Siskel: She included the iconic "thumbs-up" gesture; it received a great round of audience applause.


Filmography


See also

* List of people with brain tumors


References


External links

* * *
Gene Siskel: The Balcony is Closed
Article on Legacy.com

(1969–1998)
Bio on Biography.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siskel, Gene Gene Siskel 1946 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American film critics American male non-fiction writers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Burials at Westlawn Cemetery Chicago Tribune people Culver Academies alumni Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Illinois Jewish American writers Military personnel from Illinois Television personalities from Chicago Writers from Chicago Yale University alumni 20th-century American Jews Siskel and Ebert United States Army reservists