




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. Ebert wrote Tuesday on his blog.

Despite this influence, Ebert considered himself beneath everything else a fan.

I have seen untold numbers of movies and forgotten most of them, I hope, but I remember those worth remembering, and they are all on the same shelf in my mind, Ebert wrote in his 2011 memoir titled Life Itself.


Ebert's thumb -- pointing up or down -- was his trademark. It was the main logo of the long-running TV shows Ebert co-hosted, first with Siskel of the rival Chicago Tribune and -- after Siskel's death in 1999 -- with Sun-Times colleague Richard Roeper. A two thumbs-up accolade was sure to find its way into the advertising for the movie in question.

The nation's best-known movie reviewer wrote with passion through a real knowledge of film and film history, and in doing so, helped many movies find their audiences, director Steven Spielberg said. His death is virtually the end of an era, and now the balcony is closed forever.

In early 2011, Ebert launched a new show, Ebert Presents At the Movies. The show had new hosts and featured Ebert in his own segment, Roger's Office. He used a chin prosthesis and enlisted voice-over guests or his computer to read his reviews.

Fans admired his courage, but Ebert told The Associated Press that bravery had little to do with it.

You play the cards you're dealt, Ebert wrote in an email in January 2011. What's your choice? I have no pain. I enjoy life, and why should I complain?

Scott Jordan Harris, a British man who wrote for Ebert's website, said he was moved that the critic lost his voice but never let that make him silent.

Always modest, Ebert had Midwestern charm but stuck strongly to his belief that critics honestly tell audiences how better to invest two hours of their lives.







In 1969, Ebert took a leave of absence from the Sun-Times to write the screenplay for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. The movie got an X rating and became somewhat of a cult film.



He's in my mind almost every day, Ebert wrote in his autobiography. He became less like a friend than like a brother.

Ebert found a professional and personal partner in Chaz, who acted as his co-producer. He often would use his computer voice to say I love you to her during television interviews.

She returned the sentiment, telling Ebert during the final dress rehearsal for Ebert Presents at the Movies that he had an indomitable spirit.

And you know that's right, Chaz Ebert told her husband. Because people would have understood totally if you decided never to do any of this again.

Ebert was also an author, writing more than 20 books that included two volumes of essays on classic movies and the popular I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie, a collection of some of his most scathing reviews.






My blog became my voice, my outlet, my `social media' in a way I couldn't have dreamed of, Ebert wrote in his memoir. Most people choose to write a blog. I needed to.

Ebert said he did not fear death because, writing in 2010 that he didn't believe there was anything on the other side of death to fear.

I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state, he wrote. I am grateful for the gifts of intelligence, love, wonder and laughter. You can't say it wasn't interesting.

Related links:

Chicao Sun-Times: Rogert Ebert

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