CHICAGO, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, co-host of the syndicated "Ebert & Roeper" movie review program, will undergo surgery Friday to remove a cancerous growth from his thyroid gland.
The 59-year-old Chicago Sun-Times movie critic had a similar procedure in 1987.
Ebert told the newspaper Thursday he was optimistic of making another full recovery and he had written a few reviews and taped several television programs, including his annual "If We Picked the Winners" Oscars show, to run during his recuperation.
"I am having surgery to remove a malignant tumor on my thyroid gland," he said in a statement. "I am told this type of tumor is slow growing and not aggressive, and that my prognosis is excellent for a quick and full recovery."
The newspaper said Ebert and Roeper, a fellow Sun-Times columnist, had taped four television shows during the weekend.
The duo is scheduled to host a "floating film festival" for Disney Cruise Lines, cover the Academy Awards presentation in Hollywood on March 24 and appear on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.
Ebert is supposed to host the 4th Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival April 24-28 at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Ill. The popular annual event is sponsored by the College of Communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
Ebert, the Sun-Times' film critic since 1967, had written 15 books. He won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, the year he teamed up with his late partner Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel, who died in 1999 at age 53.
