# Richard Roeper
**Richard Roeper** (born 1959) is an American journalist and film critic, known as the longtime nationally syndicated film and TV columnist for the *Chicago Sun-Times* and as the co-host, alongside Roger Ebert, of the syndicated television review show "At the Movies," later renamed "Ebert & Roeper."
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959, Chicago, Illinois[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/roeper-richard-1959) |
| Education | B.A., Illinois State University, 1982[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/roeper-richard-1959) |
| Sun-Times career | Freelance writer from 1982, full-time columnist from 1987, film critic from 2013 until a buyout in March 2025[2](https://robertfeder.dailyherald.com/2018/01/26/sun-times-brings-back-richard-roepers-column-new-role-mark-brown/) • [3](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-sun-times-leave-chicago-buyout-movie-critic-columnist) |
| Television | Co-host of "Ebert & Roeper" ("At the Movies") with Roger Ebert, 2000–2008[4](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/05/29/richard-roeper-roger-ebert-com-sun-times-film-movies) |
| Books | Author of nine books on movies, sports, and pop culture[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/contributors/richard-roeper) |
| Current roles | Contributor to RogerEbert.com (from May 2025); NBC 5 News entertainment and culture contributor (from April 2026); host of "The Richard Roeper Show" podcast[4](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/05/29/richard-roeper-roger-ebert-com-sun-times-film-movies) • [6](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2026/04/06/nbc-5-chicago-film-critic-richard-roeper-sun-times) |
| Review output | 2,096 movie reviews and 549 TV reviews logged on Metacritic, with an average critic score of 71[7](https://www.metacritic.com/critic/richard-roeper/?filter=movies) |
## Early life and newspaper career
Roeper was born in Chicago in 1959, the son of Robert and Margaret Roeper, and earned a B.A. from [Illinois State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/illinois-state-university) in 1982[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/roeper-richard-1959). He began at the *Chicago Sun-Times* as a freelance writer in 1982 and was named a full-time columnist in 1987[2](https://robertfeder.dailyherald.com/2018/01/26/sun-times-brings-back-richard-roepers-column-new-role-mark-brown/). Over the following decades he worked as a general-interest columnist, covering breaking news, trends, politics, and pop culture, and described his 37-year run at the paper as "the ride of a lifetime"[3](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-sun-times-leave-chicago-buyout-movie-critic-columnist). As a daily columnist he won numerous accolades, including the National Headliner Award for Best News Columnist in the country[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/contributors/richard-roeper).
His early broadcasting work included seven years as a commentator on WFLD-TV's "Fox Thing in the Morning," film critic duties at WBBM-CBS 2 from 2002 to 2005, radio talk-show hosting on WLS-FM and WLUP-FM, and panel appearances on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!"[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/roeper-richard-1959).
## Ebert & Roeper
[Gene Siskel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-siskel), Roger Ebert's longtime co-host on the show, died of cancer in early 1999. Ebert continued with guest critics until the summer of 2000, when Roeper, then a 41-year-old Sun-Times columnist, was tapped to join him[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2001/01/14/rating-movies-with-a-new-partner/9312b578-26a6-4d36-819f-2beac7a20db7/). Roeper later described the process as an extended audition: after about thirty people had filled in following Siskel's death, Ebert called him to appear once, and after roughly ten return appearances he was offered the job[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/roeper-richard-1959).
The show, originally "At the Movies" and renamed "Ebert & Roeper," ran with the two as co-hosts from 2000 to 2008, during which they also wrote together at the Sun-Times[4](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/05/29/richard-roeper-roger-ebert-com-sun-times-film-movies). The Sun-Times author page describes it as the most popular review show in the history of television[9](https://chicago.suntimes.com/richard-roeper). Ebert died in 2013 after a long battle with thyroid cancer, and Roeper succeeded him as the paper's film reviewer that year[4](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/05/29/richard-roeper-roger-ebert-com-sun-times-film-movies) • [3](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-sun-times-leave-chicago-buyout-movie-critic-columnist).
## After the Sun-Times
In March 2025, Roeper accepted a voluntary buyout offered by the paper's parent company, Chicago Public Media, which accepted 35 buyouts to save $3 to $5 million amid expected budget trouble; the departures amounted to a 20 percent reduction in the Sun-Times staff[10](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-leaving-sun-times-buyouts). He said at the time that he had no plans to slow down and would continue reviewing films and TV series on "Windy City Weekend" on ABC-7 Chicago and recording his podcast[3](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-sun-times-leave-chicago-buyout-movie-critic-columnist).
Two months later, in May 2025, he announced he was joining RogerEbert.com as a regular contributor, saying that writing for the site was "particularly meaningful" because he owed so much of his career to Ebert; his first piece covered the Netflix documentary "Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders"[4](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/05/29/richard-roeper-roger-ebert-com-sun-times-film-movies). In April 2026, NBC 5 Chicago hired him to file entertainment and culture stories across platforms, with news VP Sally Ramirez calling him "a respected and notable voice in Chicago media"[6](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2026/04/06/nbc-5-chicago-film-critic-richard-roeper-sun-times).
## Work as a critic
Roeper's criticism is characterized in industry profiles as accessible, mainstream-oriented work with star ratings and an everyman perspective that respects the audience[11](https://skilldb.dev/skills/film-critics/critic-style-richard-roeper). On Metacritic he has logged 2,096 movie reviews and 549 TV reviews, with an average movie critic score of 71, distributed as 73 percent positive, 18 percent mixed, and 9 percent negative; his highest-scored film there is "I'm Still Here" (100) and his lowest "White House Down" (0)[7](https://www.metacritic.com/critic/richard-roeper/?filter=movies). He is named among Rotten Tomatoes' individually designated Top Critics[12](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/otg-article/top-critics-list/).
He has also written nine books on movies, sports, and pop culture, and hosts the podcast "The Movie Of Your Life with Richard Roeper"[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/contributors/richard-roeper).
## References
1. [Roeper, Richard 1959-, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/roeper-richard-1959)
2. [Sun-Times brings back Richard Roeper's column; new role for Mark Brown, Robert Feder](https://robertfeder.dailyherald.com/2018/01/26/sun-times-brings-back-richard-roepers-column-new-role-mark-brown/)
3. [Richard Roeper to leave Sun-Times, vows to keep reviewing movies, Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-sun-times-leave-chicago-buyout-movie-critic-columnist)
4. [Film critic Richard Roeper finds new role after Sun-Times exit, Axios Chicago](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/05/29/richard-roeper-roger-ebert-com-sun-times-film-movies)
5. [Richard Roeper biography & movie reviews, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/contributors/richard-roeper)
6. [NBC 5 Chicago adds film critic Richard Roeper to its lineup, Axios Chicago](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2026/04/06/nbc-5-chicago-film-critic-richard-roeper-sun-times)
7. [Richard Roeper Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/critic/richard-roeper/?filter=movies)
8. [Rating Movies With a New Partner, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2001/01/14/rating-movies-with-a-new-partner/9312b578-26a6-4d36-819f-2beac7a20db7/)
9. [Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/richard-roeper)
10. [Richard Roeper leaving Chicago Sun-Times, Axios Chicago](https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/03/19/richard-roeper-leaving-sun-times-buyouts)
11. [Critic Style Richard Roeper, SkillDB](https://skilldb.dev/skills/film-critics/critic-style-richard-roeper)
12. [See the Full List of Individually-Designated Top Critics, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/otg-article/top-critics-list/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Craft crew: cinematographers, editors, composers, critics › Film critics, historians, and scholars: biographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license