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| Film critic Roger Ebert dies at 70 of cancer | Film critic Roger Ebert dies at 70 of cancer |
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| Renowned American film critic Roger Ebert has died at 70 after a long battle with cancer, his newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times has reported. | Renowned American film critic Roger Ebert has died at 70 after a long battle with cancer, his newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times has reported. |
| Ebert, known for his thumbs-up or down reviews on a series of television shows on films, first became a film critic for the Sun-Times in 1967. | Ebert, known for his thumbs-up or down reviews on a series of television shows on films, first became a film critic for the Sun-Times in 1967. |
| He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002, losing his jaw and his ability to speak in a subsequent surgery. | He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002, losing his jaw and his ability to speak in a subsequent surgery. |
| But he later resumed writing full-time and also returned to television. | But he later resumed writing full-time and also returned to television. |
| On Tuesday, Ebert revealed on his popular blog that he faced a fresh bout with cancer and was taking a "leave of presence", writing fewer reviews. | On Tuesday, Ebert revealed on his popular blog that he faced a fresh bout with cancer and was taking a "leave of presence", writing fewer reviews. |
| He suffered a hip fracture in December that he said "had recently been revealed to be a cancer". | He suffered a hip fracture in December that he said "had recently been revealed to be a cancer". |
| "It is being treated with radiation, which has made it impossible for me to attend as many movies as I used to," he wrote. But Ebert vowed to continue his work. | "It is being treated with radiation, which has made it impossible for me to attend as many movies as I used to," he wrote. But Ebert vowed to continue his work. |
| TV debut | |
| Ebert's review columns were syndicated in hundreds of newspapers worldwide, and he won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975 - the first film critic to do so. | |
| In the same year, a film review show starring Ebert and cross-town rival Gene Siskel premiered on local television. A few years later, the programme - with its thumbs up or down reviews - began to air nationally, making Siskel and Ebert household names in the US. | |
| The programme, in various guises, continued until Siskel's death in 1999. | |
| Ebert was the author of more than 15 books about the movies. | |
| His TV career was curtailed in 2002 when he was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. | |
| A portion of his lower jaw was removed in a 2006 cancer surgery, and he lost the ability to speak, eat or drink. He turned to the internet, where his writings continued to garner enormous audiences. Wearing a prosthetic chin and with his reviews read by voice-over actors, he eventually returned to television. | |
| In his last blog, he wrote: "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." |