Andrea Gronvall was a producer for the film review shows co-hosted for many years by critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel and also reviewed and wrote about movies for the Chicago Reader.
“She (was) a very generous and loyal friend, as well as someone who brought the same sort of scrupulous attention to everything she later did as a print journalist and reviewer, even in a shrinking market where such virtues are seldom noticed, much less appreciated,” retired Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum said. “And her avid curiosity and enthusiasm as a reader and as a spectator made her open to all sorts of things.”
Gronvall, 67, died of natural causes on Sept. 4 at her home in Uptown’s Margate Park, said a cousin, Donna Gaeth. Gronvall recently had been battling bronchitis, Gaeth said.
Andrea Lee Gronvall was born in Chicago and grew up on the North Side, graduating in 1969 from Lake View High School, where she was her graduating class’s valedictorian. She earned a bachelor’s degree in radio, TV and film from Northwestern University’s School of Speech in 1976.
She worked for Margie Korshak’s public relations firm and for Second City before joining the staff of Tribune Entertainment’s nationally syndicated movie review show “At the Movies” in 1982.
Siskel, then the Tribune’s film critic, and Ebert, of the Sun-Times, had started with “Sneak Previews” on WTTW-Ch. 11 in 1975 and jumped to Tribune Entertainment to create “At the Movies” in 1982. They left Tribune Entertainment in 1986 after striking a deal with Disney to start yet another movie-review show.
“While she had other major responsibilities that she performed brilliantly, Andrea had the unenviable task of mediating between Gene and Roger. (She was) somewhat of a den mother to two brothers constantly battling it out,” said Siskel’s widow, Marlene Iglitzen. “She was both clever and tactful, and she made each critic feel like she was taking his side.”
“Siskel & Ebert” executive producer Larry Dieckhaus said Gronvall “understood creative minds” and cited her ability to perceive “the insecurity of each critic.”
“She understood each critic’s difficulty admitting a word or phrase change was needed in the script because words or a phrase clashed with what the accompanying clip would show,” he said. “She always saw the important films and was a critic in her own right and understood how questioning interpretation of words in the script needed to be spoken correctly for viewers.”
Janet LaMonica, who was an assistant producer on the show, recalled Gronvall’s “vast knowledge of film.”
“Everyone in the film industry knew and respected her,” LaMonica said. “She was more than that, though. Andrea was a kind and generous soul. She always thought of others and never made a big deal about the nice things she did. In other words, she never let her right hand know what the left was doing. She lived her Jewish faith.”
After Siskel’s death in 1999, the show continued with Ebert and a rotating series of guest substitutes before Richard Roeper was made permanent co-host in 2000. In 2003, Gronvall left the show in a round of layoffs.
In 2004, Gronvall began writing film criticism for the Chicago Reader. J.R. Jones, who edited the Reader’s film section from 1997 until leaving the publication last year, praised Gronvall’s knowledge of cinema and her passion for culture.
“Her writing had a strong ethical sense that, I think, came from her religion and her natural compassion,” Jones said. “She also did her homework, made her deadlines and got her facts straight — invaluable traits to any editor.”
Gronvall continued to review films for the Reader until this summer. One of her final reviews was of the 2004 documentary “Leaving Home, Coming Home,” which recently was screened in theaters. The documentary is about filmmaker Robert Frank, who died on Sept. 9.
Gronvall also is survived by a brother, Jeffrey.
Services were held.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
