Celebrity News

Roger Ebert ‘looked at us, smiled and passed away,’ says wife Chaz

Roger Ebert is smiling from the big movie theater in the sky.

“We were getting ready to go home today for hospice care, when he looked at us, smiled, and passed away,” Chaz Hammel-Smith, Roger’s trial-attorney wife of more than 20 years, said in a statement. “No struggle, no pain, just a quiet, dignified transition.”

Hammel-Smith was left “devastated” by the passing of the beloved Chicago movie critic, who she calls “my husband, my friend, my confidante and oh-so brilliant partner.”

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“He fought a courageous fight. I’ve lost the love of my life and the world has lost a visionary and a creative and generous spirit who touched so many people all over the world,” she continued.

Ebert died at age 70 after publishing his moving and detailed 11-year battle with thyroid cancer.

“We had a lovely, lovely life together, more beautiful and epic than a movie. It had its highs and the lows, but was always experienced with good humor, grace and a deep abiding love for each other,” Hammel-Smith said.

Ebert is survived by his stepchildren Sonia and Jay, and his grandchildren Raven, Emil, Mark and Joseph. Hammel-Smith wrote, “just yesterday he was saying how his grandchildren were ‘the best things in my life.’”

“We are touched by all the kindness and the outpouring of love we’ve received. And I want to echo what Roger said in his last blog, thank you for going on this journey with us.”