Gene Siskel

Eugene Kal Gene Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of popular review shows on television from 1975 to 1999.

Siskel was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Ida and Nathan William Siskel. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Siskel was raised by his aunt and uncle after both his parents died when he was ten years old. He attended Culver Academies and graduated from Yale University with a degree in philosophy in 1967, where he studied writing under Pulitzer Prizewinning author John Hersey, who helped him land 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 papers film critic. His review of the film was favorable but received no stars by default since the paper did not use a starrating system for films at the time. Siskel served in the United States Army Reserves, graduating from basic officers training in early 1968 and serving as a military journalist and public affairs officer for the Defense Information School. For a time afterwards, Gene was acquainted with Playboy magazine publisher, Hugh Hefne

Source: Wikipedia