This Jan. 2009 file photo shows film critic and author Roger Ebert, recipient of the Honorary Life Member Award, at the Directors Guild of America Awards in Los Angeles. The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that its film critic Roger Ebert died Thursday. He was 70.AP Photo NYET837, NYET831, NYET833, ILCHS502, NYET836, NYET835, NYET834, NYET832
CHICAGO – Roger Ebert had the most-watched thumb in Hollywood.
With a twist of his wrist, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic could render a decision that influenced a nation of moviegoers and could sometimes make or break a film.
The heavy-set writer in the horn-rimmed glasses teamed up on TV with Gene Siskel to create a format for criticism that proved enormously appealing in its simplicity: uncomplicated reviews that were both intelligent and accessible and didn’t talk down to ordinary movie fans.
Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, died Thursday at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, two days after announcing on his blog that he was undergoing radiation treatment for a recurrence of cancer. He was 70.