Roger Ebert's boyhood home marked with plaque

URBANA -- Film critic Roger Ebert's boyhood home is getting the thumbs up.

Officials in Urbana decided to honor the Chicago Sun-Times critic by placing a bronze plaque on the sidewalk in front of 410 E. Washington St. That's where Ebert lived with his parents from his birth in 1942 until 1961.

The 66-year-old Ebert and his wife, Chaz Ebert, were in Urbana for the Wednesday ceremony.

In a column Tuesday, Ebert described the home as "a two-bedroom white stucco house with green canvas awnings, evergreens and geraniums in front and a white picket fence enclosing the back yard."

Ebert became film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967. His annual film festival starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the historic Virginia Theatre in neighboring Champaign.