Roger Ebert Inspires Us with 'At the Movies'

Film critic Roger Ebert, 68, famous for his "Two Thumbs Up" movie reviews, is back from a battle with thyroid cancer. Part of that battle was losing a portion of his jaw and the ability to eat, drink and talk. However, "Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies" debuted in January, and Ebert has been fitted with a prosthetic chin. Says the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ebert, "Symbolically, it's as if my illness never happened and, hey, here I still am, on the show with these new kids. When people see the 'Roger's Office' segment, they'll notice my voice more than my appearance."

Unlike his movie review partner Gene Siskel, who died of a brain tumor in 1999, Ebert has always been an open book about his cancer. Chris Jones of "Esquire" interviewed Ebert. We learn that Ebert is refusing any more surgery and we learn his attitude about death. Ebert writes in a journal entry, "I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear."

However, Ebert is still alive and well and gives us inspiration, as other celebrities have done who have fought injury and illness.

Bob Woodruff, 49, is the ABC journalist who recently reported what recovery might be like for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was injured in Tuscon. Woodruff, who, along with his wife Lee, wrote "In An Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing," suffered a severe brain injury five years ago by way of a roadside bomb in Iraq. After 36 days in a coma, his recovery was "slow and painful." Woodruff had to re-learn the simplest of tasks, including the names of his children. The process was so exhausting that he had to sleep every other hour after every try. Today, Woodruff is back. His hard work paid off.

Melissa Etheridge, 49, performed a Janis Joplin tribute with a bald head at the 2005 Grammy Awards. Was it that spirit that got her through her breast cancer diagnosis in 2004 and the chemotherapy after? Today, Etheridge is fully recovered. On her busy schedule is her performance as St. Jimmy in the Broadway musical "American Idiot." For one week, she will take over for Green Day's front man, Billie Joe Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong, 39, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. The cancer spread to his brain, stomach and lungs, and he was told he had a 40 percent chance of surviving. However, Armstrong battled the cancer with surgery and chemotherapy and, later, won the Tour de France consecutively from 1999 to 2005. His Livestrong is another way that he encourages others fighting cancer.

"Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies" airs every week for a half hour and is produced by Chaz and Roger Ebert. It continues the 35-year run that started with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.

Roger Ebert, Leading with my chin, Roger Ebert's Journal

Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies, Sun Times

Chris Jones, Roger Ebert: The Essential Man, Esquire

Facing Rehab: Exhaustion, Exhilaration and Love, ABC (Video)

Melissa Etheridge to Play ST. JIMMY in AMERICAN IDIOT Feb. 1-6, Broadway World

Lance Armstrong, Ask Men

Livestrong