Movie reviewer Joel Siegel died today, 29 June 2007, of complications from colon cancer, which he had been battling for several years. Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1943, he was a movie reviewer for New York City’s Eyewitness News for 30 years, and also a reviewer for Good Morning America since 1981.
Siegel was originally a civil rights organizer in the 1960s, and moved on to a writing career. He wrote jokes for Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and then moved on to magazine writing before making the move to television. He started on ABC television as an entertainment and culture reporter, but truly loved movies, seeing more than 200 a year (even on his days off). The first movie he remembered watching was Pinocchio.
Siegel’s first wife, Jane, died at the age of 31 in 1982 from brain cancer, and in her memory, he co-founded Gilda’s Club with Gene Wilder. He discovered he had colon cancer the same week his second wife, Ena, discovered she was pregnant with their son, Dylan. Knowing he probably wouldn’t live to see his son grow up, Siegel wrote Lessons for Dylan for him.
On a personal note, the first film I was invited to screen as the editor of SFScope was The Last Mimzy. After bustling into the screening room and finding seats, my wife looked across me and said “That’s Joel Siegel,” sitting two seats to my left. I leaned over to ask if indeed it was him, and to tell him how much we enjoyed his reviews. He was gracious, pleasant, and interested in my reason for being there, taking a card with a promise to check out SFScope. A nice man, and a good reviewer; he will be missed.