Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, Movie Critic, Dies at 70

By Christopher John Farley

Everett

Roger Ebert.

Roger Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic, has died at the age of 70.
His passing was reported on the Chicago Sun-Times website. The paper tweeted “It is with a heavy heart we report that legendary film critic Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) has passed away.”

Ebert, who was born in Urbana, Ill., on June 18, 1942 and went on to write for the Chicago Sun-Times, was best known for pairing with Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune for a long-running movie review program for television. The show, which was known by a variety of titles including “Sneak Previews,” was first launched in 1975 and went through various iterations and broadcasters.
In his 2011 memoir “Life Itself,” Ebert wrote “In the early days of doing shows with Gene Siskel, part of our so-called chemistry resulted because, having successfully made my argument and feeling some relief, I felt personally under assault if Siskel disagreed. This led to tension that, oddly, helped the show.”
The Sun-Times reported that Ebert died after a long battle with cancer. In 2006, Ebert lost part of his lower jaw, and along with it the ability to speak.

But in spite of his medical problems, Ebert managed to find new life online, reviewing movies on the web, writing about film-related issues and creating an online hub for other film writers to share their views.
He continued to review movies until close to his death. He recently posted a review of the new movie “The Host” with the headline “Don’t listen to inner voices from other planets.”
In 2010, Ebert wrote an essay for this blog on how he thought the new rules governing awards for documentaries by The Motion Picture Academy had gone wrong. “At the end of the day it all comes down to somebody’s dreams and somebody else’s eyeballs,” he wrote.

On April 2, 2013, he posted a note on his blog under the headline “A Leave of Presence.” He wrote “Typically, I write over 200 reviews a year for the Sun-Times that are carried by Universal Press Syndicate in some 200 newspapers. Last year, I wrote the most of my career, including 306 movie reviews, a blog post or two a week, and assorted other articles. I must slow down now, which is why I’m taking what I like to call ‘a leave of presence.’”
Ebert went on to express his intention to build up his New Media presence on Rogerebert.com and Ebert Digital. The message concluded “So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.”