Sean Bean gets hometown honor

SHEFFIELD, England, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- British actor Sean Bean was honored Saturday in his native town with a plaque on Sheffield's Walk of Fame.

A plaque on the sidewalk outside the town hall was unveiled in a ceremony, the BBC reported. The mayor called Bean, who retains a north of England accent, a "true ambassador for Sheffield."

Bean, who now lives in London, told the audience he planned to make a day of it, watching Sheffield United play Middlesborough.

"I'd like to say thank you to the people of Sheffield for choosing me for it. It really does mean a lot to me," he said.

Bean grew up in Sheffield and studied welding at a local technical college before becoming an actor.

In Britain, he became known for playing Richard Sharpe, a rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars, in a series of television movies. In the rest of the world, he is best known as Boromir in "The Fellowship of the Rings."

He has also played villains in "GoldenEye" and "National Treasure" and a wide range of other roles. Sheffield starred in "The Full Monty," about five unemployed factory workers who decide to perform as male strippers.