Film critic Ebert says recuperating from illness

CHICAGO, Oct 13 (Reuters) Film critic Roger Ebert told his readers yesterday he is learning to walk again and was ''completely out of it'' for two months while recovering from surgeries to repair bleeding and to remove a cancerous growth.

In a letter printed on page three of his hometown Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic known for his ''thumbs-up'' or ''thumbs-down'' reviews described his medical ''adventure,'' and thanked his doctors by name, his wife Chaz and concerned fans.

''They ... kept me sedated to avoid disturbing the affected areas -- and then I essentially spent July and August completely out of it. I remember only fragmentary episodes,'' he said.

The unexpectedly long illness left his muscles atrophied, and he is learning to walk again, he said.

Ebert, 64, had surgery on June 16 to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland and emergency surgery two weeks later to repair a burst blood vessel near the same site.

''During all of this, I didn't lose any marbles. My thinking is intact and my mental process doesn't require rehabilitation,'' Ebert wrote.

He predicted he would be back at work in time to cover the Academy Awards and the Cannes film festival, as well as host his own ''Overlooked Film Festival'' in Champaign, Illinois in April. He plans to rejoin partner Richard Roeper on their televised ''Ebert&Roeper'' movie review show, which has used well-known actors and directors as guest hosts in Ebert's absence.

During his rehabilitation, Ebert said he was drawn more to reading classic novels than watching movies, but gave in to temptation and has reviewed ''The Queen.'' ''A few more recent movies also will be reviewed, but I won't be back to full production until sometime early next year,'' he said.

''The good news is that my rehabilitation is a profound education in the realities of the daily lives we lead, and my mind is still capable of being delighted by cinematic greatness,'' he wrote.

Ebert's weekly film reviews, which he began writing in 1967, are syndicated to over 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad.

He has written at least 15 books and co-wrote the screenplay for 1970 film ''Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.'' In 1975 he became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

REUTERS BDP KN0900