Movie critic Roger Ebert died today after a battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.
Ebert had been fighting thyroid cancer since he was diagnosed in 2002. Due to cancerous tissue near his right jaw, doctors had to remove a section of jaw bone during a 2006 surgery. A prosthetic chin was implanted for aesthetic looks but he would be forced to speak using a voice machine for the rest of his life as well as eat through a feeding tube.
Ebert was often considered “the most powerful pundit in America.” He would become the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.
Just Tuesday Ebert wrote a post on his blog saying he was taking a “leave of presence” because he was unable to attend as many movie screenings anymore.
“It means I am not going away,” Ebert, 70, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “I’ll be able at last to do what I’ve always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review.” He had written over 300 movie reviews for Chicago’s Sun Times last year alone.
Ebert rose to prominence for his work on the television shows Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The Movies. He worked with his former on-screen partner Gene Siskel for over 23 years with until he passed away in 1999. After Siskel’s death, Ebert began to co-host Ebert & Roeper & the Movies which began in 2000. His last show, Ebert Presents: At the Movies, premiered on PBS stations nationwide in 2011.
Mr. Ebert once responded to a letter by BackstageOL’s own Jake Hamilton, host of Jake’s Takes, when he was 13 years old. Mr. Ebert wrote, ” Don”t ever forget, a film critic does nothing different or more special than anyone else who loves movies. We just bitch a little bit louder than the rest of the people in the theater.”
“I’m so truly sad to hear of his passing,” Hamilton commented on the passing of Mr. Ebert to BackstageOL. “He led the way for me to be able to pursue my love of movies for a living. I hope to see him at the movies again someday – I’ll bring the popcorn if he’ll save me a seat.”
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