Movie Critic Joel Siegel Dies at Age 63

Good Morning America film critic Joel Siegel, best known for his honest movie reviews as well as his glasses and bushy mustache has died at age 63, according to CNN. Mr. Siegel died Friday afternoon, surrounded by family and friends. He had been battling colon cancer for ten years.

Mr. Siegel was born July 7, 1943, in Los Angeles. He attended UCLA, where he graduated cum laude.

He was an accomplished man who had a witnessed the making of American history. He worked with the civil rights movement, registering black voters, and joining Dr. Martin Luther King's marches. He was a campaign worker and joke writer during the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy and was at the Ambassador Hotel the night of Mr. Kennedy's assassination.

He began his career working as a disc jockey, newscaster, and freelance writer. This led to him being offered a job as the book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times.

In 1972 WCBS-TV in New York offered him a job as a reporter. He also hosted "Joel Siegel's New York" on WCBS Radio. He went to work for WABC-TV in 1976, and became the film critic on Good Morning America in 1981.

He was also an author. He wrote the book for "The First", which was a Broadway musical based on the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. It earned Siegel a Tony Award nomination. He is the only drama critic ever to receive one.

He learned at age 53 that he had colon cancer. A few weeks later he found out he was going to be a father for the first time. There was a seventy percent chance he would not live to see his son born and so he wrote "Lessons For Dylan: From Father To Son" for his unborn child, hoping to impart the wisdom learned in a lifetime. Joel tried to tell Dylan everything he wanted him to know...just in case.

Mr. Siegel served as the president of "Gilda's Club", a non-profit organization he started with actor-comedian Gene Wilder in 1991, in memory of Wilder's late wife, comedienne Gilda Radner who died of ovarian cancer. "Gilda's Club" has centers in several cities that provide support for cancer patients, their families, and their friends.

Joel Siegel had won five New York Emmy Awards, a New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association Award, and a public service award from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith "distinguished news reporting and commitment to freedom of the press."

His wife, Ena Swansea, and their nine year-old son, Dylan, survive Mr. Siegel.

"Movie Critic Joel Siegel Dies". CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/29/siegel.obit.ap/index.html

Bill Blakemore. "Joyful Critic Joel Siegel, Gone at 63". ABCnews.com. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3324632&page=1