One day after announcing his plans to take a "leave of presence" from reviewing films due to the recurrence of his cancer, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Roger Ebert has passed away.
Ebert was undoubtedly the nation's most influential film critic, and was awarded with a Pulitzer in 1975 for his work - the first film critic to ever win the award. Yesterday marked his 46th anniversary writing film reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times.
He was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in early 2002, and underwent surgery in 2006 to remove cancerous tissue from the lower part of his jaw. More recently, he suffered a painful hip fracture that was found to actually be a recurrence of his cancer.
Ebert was 70.
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[via Chicago Sun-Times]