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Roger Ebert (born 18 June 1942) is a Chicago Sun-Times film critic.He is known for his weekly review column (appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and later online)[1] and for the television program Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which he co-hosted for 23 years with Gene Siskel. After Siskel’s death in 1999, he auditioned several potential replacements, ultimately choosing Richard Roeper to fill the open chair.
Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, the son of Annabel (née Stumm) and Walter H. Ebert.[3] His paternal grandparents were German immigrants.[4] His interest in journalism began as a student at Urbana High School, where he was a sports writer for The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois. However, he began his writing career with letters of comment to the science fiction fanzines of the era.Ebert began his professional critic career in 1967, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times. In 1969, his review of Night of the Living Dead[7] was published in Reader’s Digest.
In early 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. In February of that year, surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital were able to successfully remove the cancer with clean margins. He later underwent surgery in 2003 for cancer in his salivary gland and in December of 2003,On July 1, Ebert was hospitalized in serious condition after his carotid artery burst near the surgery site and he “came within a breath of death”.An update from Ebert on October 11, 2006 confirmed his bleeding problems had resolved. He was undergoing rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago due to lost muscle mass, and later underwent further rehabilitation at the Pritikin Center in Florida.”
