Roger Ebert – the prolific film critic, author, and television personality who became a definitive voice in what movies were good and what movies weren’t – has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 70.
Ebert’s death – which was reported today in the Chicago Sun-Times – comes just two days after he had announced a “leave of presence” to deal with cancer, which was discovered after a bone fracture. His passing comes almost 46 years to the day after he took on the role of film critic at the Sun-Times (April 3, 1967), where by his own count he wrote more than 200 movie reviews per year. Part of Ebert’s enduring appeal came from his distinctive voice; he had the knowledge of a distinguished film professor, but wrote and spoke like an everyman.
“At this point in my life, in addition to writing about movies, I may write about what it’s like to cope with health challenges and the limitations they can force upon you,” Ebert wrote on the Sun-Times after announcing his leave. “It really stinks that the cancer has returned and that I have spent too many days in the hospital. So on bad days I may write about the vulnerability that accompanies illness. On good days, I may wax ecstatic about a movie so good it transports me beyond illness.”
In addition to being a well-known syndicated critic for the Sun-Times, which reported his passing Twitter “with heavy heart,” Ebert also became the face of television film criticism on a series of television programs: Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, Sneak Previews, At the Movies, Siskel & Ebert & the Movies, and Ebert & Roeper & the Movies. He was was the first film critic to ever win a Pulitzer Prize and wrote more than a dozen books including The Great Movies, Your Movie Sucks, and a personal memoir published in 2011.
Ebert had been in poor health over the past decade due to cancers of the thyroid and salivary gland. He lost a section of his lower jaw in 2006, which limited his ability to speak – but not his ability to become an influential voice on the web. His site rogerebert.com had scores of fans – he even won a “Person of the Year” award from the Webbys in 2010 – and he became a fantastically prolific tweeter with more than 800,000 followers and a feed that reflected not only his opinions on films, but also the news of the day and other musings. And, like his film reviews, his tweets were smart, funny, and painfully honest.
When Ebert announced his “leave of presence” he also said that he would be re-launching rogerebert.com and taking ownership of it under a new endeavor called Ebert Digital, run by his wife Chaz – who survives him – and a family friend. The plan was to move away from the day-to-day grind, he wrote, and focus on new projects under the Ebert Digital banner.
“Today, because of technology, the opportunities to become bigger, better and reach more people are piling up too,” he wrote, adding that the new rogerebert.com would serve as a home to more than 10,000 of his reviews going back to 1967 and that the site would be relaunching with new features next Tuesday, April 9.
He closed the post by writing, “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.”