Film critics Siskel and Ebert couldn't stand each other. That's what made their show great. Gene Siskel, left, and Roger Ebert, photographed in Los Angeles in 1986, had a contentious relationship that made their TV shows about movie criticism major hits, as chronicled in Matt Singer's new book, “Opposable Thumbs.”

Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing style and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences.

Death. On April 4, 2013, Ebert died of cancer at age 70 at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago according to the Chicago Sun-Times. His wife Chaz said that "We were getting ready to go home today for hospice care, when he [Ebert] looked at us, smiled, and passed away." He battled cancer for 11 years.

When film critic Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw to cancer, he lost the ability to eat and speak. But he did not lose his voice.