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Says that his favorite actress of all time is Ingrid Bergman. He had his right thumb trademarked. Awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Colorado. He has a step-daughter, Sonia, and 3 step-grandchildren. Has written 15 books. Is a film lecturer at the University of Chicago Fine Arts Program. Hobbies: walking, reading, travel, sketching, cosmology, Darwinism. Film critic. Member of Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame since 1997. Educated at the University of Illinois, won national college award for his campus newspaper columns. Sportswriter at the age of 15. Hollywood Radio and Television Society's Co-Man of the Year 1993 (with Gene Siskel). Chicago's Erie Way was renamed Siskel & Ebert Way in 1995. His wife is an attorney. His home has a mini-movie theatre and a glass enclosed workout room; he also has 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. 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. Brother in the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Estimates he's seen well over 10,000 films in his lifetime. 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. His 4th annual EbertFest of Overlooked Films held at Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois, drew almost 20,000 people over 5 days in March 2002. Was a high school classmate of David Ogden Stiers. Considers the film Day of the Woman (aka "I Spit On Your Grave") to be the worst movie he has ever seen. First person ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for film criticism; in 2003, Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post became the second. He drew criticism when he stated that he considered The Passion of the Christ 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 exploitive (even though he gave the film 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." Shares the same birthday (in year and date) with Paul McCartney. Is an avid user and fan of IMDb. Considers Goodfellas the best mob movie ever made. At the end of the nineties, he and Martin Scorsese made a list of the top ten films of the decade. Roger's were: 1. Hoop Dreams 2. Pulp Fiction 3. Goodfellas 4. Fargo 5. Three Colors: Red, White and Blue 6. Schindler's List 7. Breaking the Waves 8. Leaving Las Vegas 9. Malcolm X 10. _JFK (1991)_ 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. His number one movies from the following 90s were Goodfellas, JFK, Malcolm X, Schindler's List, Hoop Dreams, Leaving Las Vegas, Fargo, Eve's Bayou, Dark City, and Being John Malkovich. Believes the Academy's biggest mistake was giving Gladiator the award for 'Best Picture' of the year in 2000. Has said his favourite actor is Robert Mitchum. Survived a bout with thyroid cancer, as well as a cancerous salivary gland tumor. Spent a year on a Rotary fellowship at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He later started a PhD at the University of Chicago, which he didn't finish. Despite undergoing debilitating cancer treatment and radiation in 2004, Ebert 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. Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [June 23, 2005] Author of the "Boulder Pledge" 1996 - a strong statement against spam in response to hearing the fact some people will purchase things advertised via spam. If people don't buy things, there's no reason to send it. Three of the five films he's chosen from 2000 to 2004 as the best of the year, have all won their lead actresses the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (his choice for the best film of 2001), Charlize Theron in Monster (his choice for the best film of 2003) and Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (his choice for the best film of 2004). Has an extensive collection of cartoon character toys, dolls and action figures. His top ten films of all time are: The General (1927), Citizen Kane (1941), Tokyo Story (1953), Vertigo (1958), La Dolce Vita (1960), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), Raging Bull (1980) and The Dekalog (1988). Wrote his review of Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties" (2006) in first person as Garfield. He was an only child. 1 July 2006 - Had surgery to repair a burst blood vessel near his salivary gland, near where he had his previous cancer operation.