[close] Roger Joseph Ebert is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic and screenwriter.

He is known for his weekly review column (appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and later online) and for the television program Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which he co-hosted for 23 years with Gene Siskel. After Siskel's death in 1999, he auditioned several potential replacements, ultimately choosing Richard Roeper to fill the open chair. The program was retitled Ebert & Roeper and the Movies in 2000.

Ebert's movie reviews are syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad. He has written more than 15 books, including his annual movie yearbook. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. His television programs have also been widely syndicated, and have been nominated for Emmy awards. In February 1995, a section of Chicago's Erie Street near the CBS Studios was given the honorary name Siskel & Ebert Way. Ebert was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in June 2005, the first professional film critic to receive one. Roger Ebert was named as the most influential pundit in America by Forbes Magazine, beating the likes of Bill Maher, Lou Dobbs, and Bill O'Reilly.[2:] He has honorary degrees from the University of Colorado, the American Film Institute, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Since 1994, he has written a Great Movies series of individual reviews of what he deems to be the most important films of all time. Since 1999, he has hosted the annual Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival in Champaign, Illinois.
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