Brian Damage
04-22-2009, 10:22 PM
Already a national institution, Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert will achieve landmark status today when his Downstate boyhood home receives a commemorative marker.
During a ceremony at 11 a.m., a bronze plaque will be placed in the sidewalk in front of his family's onetime residence at 410 E. Washington St. in Urbana. An Urbana native, Ebert lived there with his parents, the late Annabel and Walter Ebert, from 1942 to 1961.
Ebert and wife, Chaz, will be present for the ceremonies, along with Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing, councilman Dennis Roberts and other dignitaries. The unveiling is one of several events launching the 11th annual Ebertfest, Roger's festival dedicated to overlooked and underappreciated films. It begins tonight and runs through Sunday at the historic Virginia Theatre in Champaign-Urbana.
Ebert graduated from the University of Illinois in 1964 and became the Sun-Times' film critic in 1967.
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/1538627,CST-NWS-ebert22.article
During a ceremony at 11 a.m., a bronze plaque will be placed in the sidewalk in front of his family's onetime residence at 410 E. Washington St. in Urbana. An Urbana native, Ebert lived there with his parents, the late Annabel and Walter Ebert, from 1942 to 1961.
Ebert and wife, Chaz, will be present for the ceremonies, along with Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing, councilman Dennis Roberts and other dignitaries. The unveiling is one of several events launching the 11th annual Ebertfest, Roger's festival dedicated to overlooked and underappreciated films. It begins tonight and runs through Sunday at the historic Virginia Theatre in Champaign-Urbana.
Ebert graduated from the University of Illinois in 1964 and became the Sun-Times' film critic in 1967.
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/1538627,CST-NWS-ebert22.article