Roger Ebert to get Hollywood star

CHICAGO, April 21 (UPI) -- Film critic Roger Ebert, host of the long-running "Ebert & Roeper," syndicated movie review program, is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times for 30 years, will receive a star in front of Los Angeles' famous El Capitan Theater June 23 and a plaque will be dedicated in his honor at the Chicago Theater, July 12, which is "Roger Ebert Day in Chicago."

"On behalf of the City of Chicago, I salute Roger Ebert," Mayor Richard M. Daley said. "Ebert is a Pulitzer Prize winner who keeps giving back to his community through his academic endeavors as well as through his journalism."

Ebert, author of 17 books, was the first movie critic to receive the Pulitzer Prize for arts criticism in 1975. He recently hosted the 7th annual Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival at the University of Illinois in Champaign and selected seven films for Chicago's Sixth Annual Outdoor Film Festival, beginning with "Citizen Kane" July 12.