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Chaz Ebert

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Chaz Ebert
Ebert in 2026
Born
Charlie Hammel

(1952-10-15) October 15, 1952 (age 74)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Dubuque (BA)
University of Wisconsin–Platteville (MA)
DePaul University (JD)
Occupations
  • Businessperson
  • attorney
Years active1972-present
Spouse(s)
Merle Smith
​
(divorced)​

​
​
(m. 1992; died 2013)​
Children2

Chaz Ebert (née Hammel, previously Hammel-Smith, born October 15, 1952) is an American businesswoman and former lawyer.[1][2] She is best known for her marriage to film critic Roger Ebert, having been married to him from 1992 until his death in 2013.

Early life

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Ebert was born Charlie Hammel in Chicago, Illinois, to Johnnie Hobbs Hammel and Wiley Hammel Sr.[3] She attended Crane Technical High School in Chicago. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dubuque, a Master of Arts from University of Wisconsin–Platteville, and a Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law.[4]

Career

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Ebert was an executive producer and guest on Ebert Presents: At the Movies. She is the CEO and publisher of Ebert Digital, which publishes RogerEbert.com, a website that contains an archive of her deceased husband Roger Ebert's film reviews and publishes contributors' film reviews.[5][6] She was featured in the 2014 documentary Life Itself about Roger Ebert and was an executive producer of the 2019 film Selah and the Spades.

In 2005, Ebert was part of a group of high-profile minority and female shareholders who filed a federal lawsuit against other investors in the bankrupt Rosemont, Illinois-based Emerald Casino. Ebert and the other investors said they lost more than $21 million after the Illinois Gaming Board revoked the license from the Emerald Casino, reportedly because the other investors were accused of lying to state regulators or having ties to organized crime.[7][8][9]

Ebert in 2010

After the death of her husband in 2013[10] and until 2026,[11] Ebert became the host of Ebertfest, an annual film festival held in Champaign, Illinois, in collaboration with the UIUC College of Media.[12][13][14]

On September 28, 2022, during the 2022 Screen Gems Benefit, Ebert announced that she would make her directorial debut on a documentary about Deborah Szekely, the centenarian so-called godmother of health and fitness.[15] The film, entitled The Wellness Warrior, premiered on October 26, 2024, at the Chicago International Film Festival.[16]

On May 7, 2024, Ebert published a book entitled It's Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness, about the importance of forgiveness, empathy, compassion, and kindness, inspired by the work of her late husband Roger Ebert.[17]

Personal life

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Ebert was first married to electrical engineer Merle Smith.[18][19] They had two children together.[4][20] The couple later divorced.[21] She was then married to film critic Roger Ebert from 1992 until his death in 2013.[22][23][24] The couple first met in 1989 during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.[25][26]

Ebert has had a history of alcoholism which intensified during her adult years, which led her to pursue recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous during the late 1980's.[27] In the 2014 documentary Life Itself, Ebert discussed her battle with alcoholism for the first time on record, stating that she emphasized the AA program's role in fostering discipline and communal accountability as being essential for sustained abstinence.[28] She also stated that the participation in the AA provided empirical structure, which aligned with evidence from recovery literature that peer-led groups correlate with the much higher long-term rates of sobriety compared to much isolated efforts.[29]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2000The 37th Annual Publicist Guild of America AwardsHerselfTV special
2007The 17th Annual Gotham AwardsHerselfTV special
2013Roger Ebert's 14th Annual Film Festival: A RetrospectiveHerselfShort film[30]
2014Life ItselfHerself
201990 Years of the Music Box TheatreHerselfShort film
2019Benjamin Marshall ArchitectHerselfShort film[31]
20213rd Annual AAFCA TV HonorsHerselfTV special
2024The 15th Annual AAFCA AwardsHerselfTV special

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2010The Oprah Winfrey ShowGuestEpisode: "Oprah's Pre-Oscar Special"
2011Ebert Presents: At the MoviesContributor10 episodes
2013Entertainment TonightHerself1 episode
2014HuffPost Live ConversationsGuest1 episode
Tavis SmileyGuest1 episode
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonHerselfEpisode: "Dan Aykroyd/Chaz Ebert/Nick Thune"
2014-2015The InsiderHerself2 episodes
2019CTV News at 11:30 TorontoHerself1 episode
CTV News at Noon TornotoHerself1 episode
2024Tamron HallHerselfEpisode: "Let's Get Lit! (2024) #2"

Audio

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Year Title Role Notes
2014LCJ Q&A PodcastGuestEpisode: "Chaz Ebert"
2018Maltin on MoviesGuestEpisode: "Chaz Ebert"
2019Talk Easy with Sam FragosoHerselfEpisode: "Chaz Ebert"
2022Lagralane SpiritsGuestEpisode: "Passing Part 2 - The Roles We Play"

Publications

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  • Chaz Ebert (May 7, 2024). It's Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness. Forefront Books. ISBN 9781637632475.

Awards and honors

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On September 28, 2022, Ebert was awarded the FACETS Legend Award at the 2022 Screen Gems Benefit for her efforts to promote diversity within the film world.[15]

References

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  1. ↑ "Roger Ebert getting married". Messenger-Inquirer. July 9, 1991. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Clipping from Public Opinion". Public Opinion. July 20, 1992. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  3. ↑ Groark, Virginia (November 25, 1999). "Johnnie M. Hammel; always ready to help". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Chaz Ebert". The History Makers. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ Miller, Quenton (February 23, 2017). "Roger Ebert, Wikipedia Editor". Guernica. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ Hernandez, Brian Anthony (April 9, 2013). "Roger Ebert's Website for Film Reviews Gets Makeover". Mashable.com. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Investors file lawsuit in failed casino bid". Chicago Tribune. January 28, 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  8. ↑ Kass, John (July 3, 2002). "In Illinois, casino backers just can't lose". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  9. ↑ Kass, John (May 30, 2007). "Combine will roll a winner, eventually". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  10. ↑ Steinberg, Neil (April 4, 2013). "Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014.
  11. ↑ D'Alessio, Jeff (September 19, 2025). "After 26 years at Virginia Theatre, Ebertfest leaving C-U". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  12. ↑ Merli, Melissa (April 25, 2007). "Ebert will have best seat in the house". News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  13. ↑ Jones, Chris (February 16, 2010). "Roger Ebert: The Essential Man". Esquire.
  14. ↑ Caruso, Michael (January 21, 2020). "New year, new semester: what's in store for Spring 2020". The Daily Illini. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Carey, Matthew (September 28, 2022). "Chaz Ebert Receives FACETS Legend Award As Producer-Philanthropist-Entrepreneur Works On Directorial Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Chaz Ebert, CEO of RogerEbert.com, Makes Directorial Debut with 'Wellness Warrior'". RogerEbert.com. September 26, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Chaz Ebert's new book explains why 'It's Time to Give a FECK'". WLS-TV. May 6, 2024. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  18. ↑ "My People - Life Itself". erenow.org. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  19. ↑ Ebert, Chaz (July 13, 2020). "Bubba Wallace Makes NASCAR History By Toppling Confederate Symbols, Joining Michael Jordan's First Black Majority-Owned Racecar Team". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 30, 2026.
  20. ↑ Ebert, Roger (July 17, 2012). "Roger loves Chaz". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012.
  21. ↑ Merli, Melissa (April 20, 2010). "Chaz Ebert comfortable as 'mysterious woman,' but steps into spotlight at husband's festival". The News-Gazette. Retrieved October 30, 2026.
  22. ↑ Hunt, Drew. "Chaz Ebert: The Media Mogul". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  23. ↑ Lewine, Edward (February 13, 2005). "A Film Critic's Windy City Home". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  24. ↑ Felsenthal, Carol (December 2005). "A Life in the Movies". Chicago Magazine. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  25. ↑ Scharres, Barbara (September 5, 2007). "Ebert meets match with wife Chaz". Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Roger Ebert, a Shining Light for Addicts Everywhere, Dies at Age 70". New Horizons Recovery Center. March 4, 2025. Retrieved November 2, 2026.
  27. ↑ Sterritt, David (February 17, 2015). "Taking it Personally: On Life Itself and Missing Roger Ebert". MovieMaker. Retrieved November 2, 2026.
  28. ↑ Puig, Claudia (August 15, 2014). "'Life Itself' a warts-and-all look at the life of critic Roger Ebert". The Detroit Free-Press. Retrieved November 2, 2026.
  29. ↑ Minow, Nell (March 31, 2019). "SPOTLIGHT April 2019: Chaz Ebert, Filmanthropist and Activist". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Retrieved November 2, 2026.
  30. ↑ Marcotte, Alison (April 8, 2013). "Ebertfest to continue as tribute to film critic". The Daily Illini. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  31. ↑ Ebert, Chaz (November 19, 2019). "Benjamin Marshall Documentary to Premiere Today at Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
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