Roger Ebert Passes Away At Age 70

Legendary film critic Roger Ebert has passed away at the age of 70, The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Ebert had been battling papillary thyroid cancer since 2002, and though he lost his voice and his portions of his jaw after an operation in 2006, he continued to write movie reviews for the Times, where he had been a critic since 1967.

He had announced on his blog Wednesday that he was undergoing radiation treatment after a recurrence of cancer, adding that he was taking a "leave of presence."

"At this point in my life, in addition to writing about movies, I may write about what it's like to cope with health challenges and the limitations they can force upon you," he wrote. "It really stinks that the cancer has returned and that I have spent too many days in the hospital. So on bad days I may write about the vulnerability that accompanies illness. On good days, I may wax ecstatic about a movie so good it transports me beyond illness."