- Was an avid user and fanatic of IMDb (Internet Movie Database).
- As a result of suffering from thyroid cancer, he had to have his lower jaw removed. He lost all ability to speak, eat and drink. His legs were also weakened from unsuccessful attempts at building a new jaw from other bone and tissue. He was nourished through infusions and a tube and communicated via his computer or through signs he made with his hands. Despite all health problems, he continued to work as a movie critic.
- His top ten films of all time were: The General (1926), Citizen Kane (1941), Tokyo Story (1953), Vertigo (1958), La Dolce Vita (1960), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), Raging Bull (1980) and The Tree of Life (2011).
- Wrote his review of Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) in first person as Garfield.
- Considered Goodfellas (1990) the best mob movie ever made.
- As of December 2010, he has twice refused to assign a star rating to a film: once for Pink Flamingos (1972) and once for The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009). In both cases, he explained his reasoning was that a film made to disgust the viewer cannot be judged as "good" or "bad", but either must be accepted for what it is or not at all.
- Estimated he saw well over 10,000 films in his lifetime.
- Considered I Spit on Your Grave (1978) to be the worst movie he has ever seen, then called its 2010 remake worse.
- At the end of the 1990s, he and Martin Scorsese made a list of the top ten films of the decade. Roger's were: 1. Hoop Dreams (1994) 2. Pulp Fiction (1994) 3. Goodfellas (1990) 4. Fargo (1996) 5. Three Colors: Red, White and Blue 6. Schindler's List (1993) 7. Breaking the Waves (1996) 8. Leaving Las Vegas (1995) 9. Malcolm X (1992) 10. JFK (1991).
- Believed the Academy's biggest mistake was giving Gladiator (2000) the award for Best Picture' of the Year" in 2000.
- In reference to a film adaptation of the Russ Meyer biography "Big Bosoms and Square Jaws", Roger said that he would want to be portrayed by either Jack Black or Philip Seymour Hoffman.
- Said that his favorite actress of all time was Ingrid Bergman.
- Met a young critic, Gene Siskel, in 1969 at a Chicago newspaper. They became friends for 30 years until Siskel's death on February 20, 1999.
- His home had a mini-movie theater and a glass-enclosed workout room, plus a life-sized statue of Oliver Hardy.
- Claimed in his original review of Rocky (1976) that Sylvester Stallone was the "next Marlon Brando".
- Panned Reservoir Dogs (1992) on his show while praising Cop & ½ (1993).
- 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 (1941).
- He had his right thumb trademarked.
- 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.
- First person ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for film criticism; in 2003, Stephen Hunter of the "Washington Post" became the second.
- His final published review was for To the Wonder (2012).
- Said his favorite actor was Robert Mitchum.
- Despite undergoing debilitating cancer treatment and radiation in 2004, he 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.
- Was extremely angry when Hoop Dreams (1994) did not win a single Oscar, and was not even nominated for Best Documentary.
- Said that the first movie he ever saw was A Day at the Races (1937) starring The Marx Brothers.
- Hobbies: walking, reading, travel, sketching, cosmology, genetic evolution.
- Had an extensive collection of cartoon character toys, dolls and action figures.
- His fourth annual EbertFest of Overlooked Films held at Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL, drew almost 20,000 people over five days in March 2002.
- Survived a bout with thyroid cancer, as well as a cancerous salivary gland tumor.
- 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.
- Chicago's Erie Way was renamed Siskel & Ebert Way in 1995.
- Shared the birthplace of Urbana, IL, with the character HAL 9000, as specified in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) one of his favorite films. He held a birthday party for HAL 9000 at the University of Illinois in Urbana in 1997 (HAL's birth-date in the novel, not the film) celebrated with a screening of 2001 and its co-writer Arthur C. Clarke in attendance via satellite.
- Drew criticism when he stated that he considered The Passion of the Christ (2004) 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 exploitative (even though he gave it 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.".
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6834 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, CA on 6/23/05.
- His widow is an attorney.
- Has a stepdaughter, Sonia, and three step-grandchildren.
- Graduated from Urbana High School in Urbana, IL (1959). Sportswriter at age 15.
- He and Gene Siskel were two of the few critics to give Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) a positive review. Shortly before his death, he stated that his written review of it was the one he had to defend more than any other and also one some people often cited as an example of his being a poor film critic.
- 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.
- Was a film lecturer at the University of Chicago Fine Arts Program.
- Brother in the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.
- Died four days before Annette Funicello. Both could not eat, drink or talk in their last years; both were born in 1942 and died at age 70.
- A life-size bronze statue of him was unveiled outside the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL on 4/24/14. The statue depicts him sitting in the middle of three theater seats, giving his "thumbs up".
- Attended the University of Illinois, won national college award for his campus newspaper columns.
- Three of the five films he's chosen from 2000-04 as the best of the year have won their lead actresses the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (2001) (his choice for the best film of 2001), Charlize Theron in Monster (2003) (his choice for the best film of 2003) and Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004) (his choice for the best film of 2004).
- Cited The Third Man (1949) as his favorite film for the AFI book "Private Screenings".
- The rarest thing he would do in a review was give a film zero stars out of four.
- After his death in 2013, he was included in the "In Memoriam" montage of the 2014 Academy Awards, a rare honor for a film critic.
- His favorite film of the naughts was Synecdoche, New York (2008). His other top ten are The Hurt Locker (2008), Monster (2003), Juno (2007), Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), Chop Shop (2007), The Son (2002), 25th Hour (2002), Almost Famous (2000) and My Winnipeg (2007).
- Awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Colorado.
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