VIDEO: Roger Ebert Speaks For The First Time in 4 Years, Thanks To A Computer
March 2 2010, Published 8:03 a.m. ET
The world’s most famous movie critic, Roger Ebert, is speaking for the first time through a computer since he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and left with a disfigured face, RadarOnline.com has confirmed.
Ebert, who lost his voice, and ability to eat and drink four years ago, appeared on The Oprah Show to a standing ovation.
Oprah Winfrey asked the smiling Ebert how he felt. Ebert then typed in his answer on a computer and a computer voice read out his response: “Terrific!”
Oprah then asked if he remembered his last words. The ever joking Ebert said through the computer “No I don’t because I didn’t realize at the time they were going to be my last words. I probably spoke them to Chaz (his wife) then as they wheeled me to the operating room. They probably were ‘I love you.’” But, he continued, “on the other hand, they may have been ‘Good morning doctor’.”
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Roger has his meals in private through an intravenous tube four times a day, but he still has a vivid memory of being a kid and drinking A&W Root Beer. His brother-in-law says “when the Lord took away your ability to drink, he gave you that memory.”
Roger goes to two to four movie screenings a day and writes for 200 newspapers. So his voice is still heard around the world.
He tells Oprah that he talks in his dreams. “I’m talking all the time that’s just like it was in life. You can never shut me up,” he said through the computer.
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But what would an interview with Roger Ebert be like without seeing his Oscar Predictions:
Best Supporting Actress Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Actress Sandra Bullock, Blind Side
Best Actor Jeff Bridges Crazy Heart
Best Director Kathryrn Bigelow
Best Picture The Hurt Locker
Academy Awards Offer Plenty of Man Candy
Roger, who is now cancer free, plans on attending the Oscars. And, while he reports on a appearence obsessed industry, Ebert says he will not have any reconstructive surgery on his face.
In a powerful statement he says “nobody looks perfect, we have to find peace with the way we look and get on with life.”