When Roger Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in 2002, little did he know it would set him on a path that would involve multiple surgeries, a bursting artery that nearly killed him and eventually the loss of his voice altogether. While this series of events would’ve sapped the energy from most people, Ebert has been even more prolific. In addition to his weekly reviews, he has been blogging prodigiously about a wide range of topics, is on Twitter incessantly, and he continues to curate his Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign, Illinois each year.
While we’ve adjusted to Ebert in the digital age, it appears he’s not done with trying to speak. Until now, he’s largely been communicating with a small notebook and pen, or using the impersonal computerized voices on his laptop. However, thanks to a Scotland based tech company, Ebert can speak again via his computer with a voice that sounds eerily like the one we knew berating Siskel on “At The Movies.”
Yesterday, Ebert and his wife Chaz went on “Oprah” to debut his new voice and the result is goosebump raising. In the clip below, Ebert speaks through the voice for the first time to his wife Chaz and you have to have a heart of stone not to be moved. The firm, CereProc, built the voice by painstakingly going through Ebert’s DVD commentaries and television work to put it together. The result is pretty striking.
In an era when film writers can often quickly become cynical or jaded, Ebert remains the gold standard. While we may not always agree with him, his passion for cinema and his endless curiosity is an example we all follow. In addition to the clip below, check out Esquire’s great profile on Ebert from their latest issue.