Two Thumbs Up

After 46 years of being a film critic for the Chicago SunTimes, Roger Ebert died at age 70. An  article about his life can be found here. 

A co-inventor of the "thumb up/thumb down" rating, had a passion for film, reviewing up to 306 movies a year. However, Roger Ebert did more than just review films. In 1966, a censorship board prohibited films from being screened in Chicago. Ebert took a stand and "immediately began lobbying for elimination of the censorship board." He helped ease the restrictive measures on certain films in Chicago. More recently, Ebert suggested a revised film rating system to replace the current one used by the MPAA. According to Amy Wallace of the LA Times, he wanted to add modifier to the current ratings to make them more specific and useful to parents.