Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 â€" 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 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 with a degree in
philosophy 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.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 with a degree in
philosophy 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.His first print review
was for the film Rascal, which was written one month before he became
the Tribune's film critic. Siskel served in the US Army Reserve,
graduating from basic officers training in early 1968; he was a
military journalist and public affairs officer for the Defense
Information School.In 1975, Siskel teamed up with Roger Ebert, film
reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times, 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. Sneak Previews gained a nationwide
audience in 1977 when WTTW offered it as a series to the PBS program
system. Gene Siskel Top Movies & Young Movies