FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2011 file photo, Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic Roger Ebert works in his office at the WTTW-TV studios in Chicago. Ebert died on Thursday, April 4, 2013. He was 70. Ebert started out as an old-school newspaper man, the kind that has all but vanished: a fierce competitor who spent the day trying to scoop the competition and the night bellied up to the bar swapping stories. Then newspapers fell on hard times, either laying off huge chunks of their staffs or disappearing altogether. But Ebert didn't merely survive. He flourished, largely by embracing television and later the Internet and social networks. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2011 file photo, Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic Roger Ebert works in his office at the WTTW-TV studios in Chicago. Ebert died on Thursday, April 4, 2013. He was 70. Ebert started out as an old-school newspaper man, the kind that has all but vanished: a fierce competitor who spent the day trying to scoop the competition and the night bellied up to the bar swapping stories. Then newspapers fell on hard times, either laying off huge chunks of their staffs or disappearing altogether. But Ebert didn't merely survive. He flourished, largely by embracing television and later the Internet and social networks. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
FILE - This 1969 file photo shows Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert in the newsroom of the paper in Chicago. The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic died Thursday, April 4, 2013. He was 70. Ebert started out as an old-school newspaper man, the kind that has all but vanished: a fierce competitor who spent the day trying to scoop the competition and the night bellied up to the bar swapping stories. Then newspapers fell on hard times, either laying off huge chunks of their staffs or disappearing altogether. But Ebert didn't merely survive. He flourished, largely by embracing television and later the Internet and social networks. (AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, Bob Kotalik)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Hollywood planned to come to Chicago on Thursday evening as actors, directors, film critics and studio presidents were to honor late movie reviewer Roger Ebert in his hometown.
Actors John Cusack and Chris Tucker were to speak at the event, called "Roger Ebert: A Celebration of Life," along with Ebert's widow Chaz Ebert and other friends and family. The memorial was to be at the Chicago Theatre, where Ebert screened movies for many years.
The acclaimed critic died April 4 at age 70 after a years-long battle with cancer. The day before his death, Ebert wrote in a post on his blog that he was taking a break from his schedule of almost-daily movie reviewing because the cancer had recurred.
Ebert worked at the Chicago Sun-Times for more than 40 years. He won national fame when he teamed with fellow film critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune in 1975 for a television show that had them each give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating to the latest releases.
Ebert continued the show with Sun-Times colleague Richard Roeper after Siskel's death in 1999. Both Roeper and Siskel's widow, Marlene Iglitzen Siskel, were to attend Thursday's memorial at the Chicago Theatre. In 2005 the city unveiled a sidewalk medallion under the ornate marquee of the historic theater as a tribute to Ebert.
Tributes for Ebert after his death included ones from President Barack Obama and Oscar-winning directors Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke at Ebert's funeral on Monday.
Ebert also will be honored next week at Ebertfest, his annual film festival in Champaign.
Ebert was the first journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize for movie criticism and was the first critic to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He earned respect for championing small independent movies that he scouted out at film festivals while at the same time taking Hollywood's biggest names to task when they missed the mark.
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Online: http://www.rogerebert.com
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Follow Caryn Rousseau on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/carynrousseau .
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