Film Critic Roger Ebert Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert has announced the sad news that he has been diagnosed once again with cancer. The 70-year-old will have to cut back on his workload in order to undergo treatment for the recurrence.

Announcing the news on his personal blog last night, Ebert said he is forced to take a "a leave of presence." "I am not going away," he told readers. "My intent is to continue to write selected reviews but to leave the rest to a talented team of writers. ... What's more, I'll be able at last to do what I've always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review."

Ebert had suffered a hip fracture in December which ultimately led to the new diagnosis of cancer. He will begin radiation immediately. The Pulitzer Prize winner has already endured a battle with cancer in his thyroid and salivary glands which caused facial disfigurement and the inability to speak.

Ebert is known for his film review column (appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and later online) and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The Movies, all of which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel.

After Siskel's death in 1999, Ebert teamed with Richard Roeper for the television series Ebert & Roeper & the Movies, which began airing in 2000.