Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television series At the Movies with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's successor. From 2010 to 2014, he co-hosted The Roe and Roeper Show with Roe Conn on WLS-AM. From October 2015 to October 2017, Roeper served as the host of the FOX 32 morning show Good Day Chicago. Since 2021, he has hosted a podcast entitled The Richard Roeper Show for American Eagle. He is a regular contributor to Windy City Weekend and its predecessor Windy City Live on WLS-TV. In 2025, Roeper joined RogerEbert.com as a regular contributor.
Roeper was born on October 17, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, one of four children to Robert and Margaret (née Slobatec) Roeper. His family came from a working-class background. In a 2025 interview, Roeper described his upbringing in a "very loving home" amid the neighborhood's close-knit, post-World War II housing developments built in the 1950s, where families like his valued hard work, education, and shared experiences such as weekly library visits with his mother to foster a love of reading. At the age of 6, his family moved in to the south suburb of Dolton, Illinois, living at the intersection of 156th Street and Maryland Avenue. He learned to drive at the age of 15 in the nearby Almar Plaza lot under his parents' guidance.
Roeper attended Thornridge High School in Dolton, graduating in 1978. During his high school years, Roeper discovered his passion for writing, determining early on that it suited him far better than subjects like math and science. Following high school, he enrolled at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois where he pursued studies in mass communication. Roeper's university experience emphasized practical training in media, most notably active participation on the student radio station WZND-LP. There, he received mentorship from advisor Dwight Brooks, who provided feedback on vocal techniques such as breath control and delivery, helping to build Roeper's foundational skills in broadcasting and reporting that would support his future professional pursuits in journalism. He graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. During this time, he auditioned for the movie review program Sneak Previews when Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert (his future co-host on At the Movies) left the program, for which he was turned down.
Roeper joined the Chicago Sun-Times as an editorial assistant in the features department in 1986. He initially did freelancing columns before advancing to his role as a news reporter. In his early years, Roeper covered a range of general news and local events, while developing a particular focus on sports, including extensive reporting on the Chicago White Sox that reflected his lifelong fandom. His assignments as a cityside reporter involved shifting between beats to build a broad understanding of Chicago, encompassing everything from neighborhood changes to cultural happenings, which honed his observational skills.
In the late 1980s, Roeper transitioned to a general-interest columnist, becoming full-time in 1988 and expanding to four columns per week by late 1989. Notable examples from this period include pieces on urban life, such as his July 1989 column "When the changing neighborhood is yours," a personal reflection on gentrification's impact in Chicago, and lighter takes on pop culture, like analyzing the stylistic quirks in a mayor's public speeches. Other columns ranged from politics to media to entertainment.
During his first decade at the paper, Roeper's writing style evolved to emphasize humor and accessibility, drawing from personal anecdotes to connect with a younger, MTV-generation readership through clear, simple language and self-deprecating insights into everyday callowness. This approach, evident in his syndicated Sunday features column that reached over 100 papers by the early 1990s, prioritized relatable commentary on modern life over dense reporting. In addition, Roeper has been voted the best columnist in Illinois by the Associated Press on numerous occasions.
He has also written seven books on topics ranging from movies to urban legends to conspiracy theories to the Chicago White Sox. In 2009, Roeper appeared on Howard Stern's show and said he had written a book on gambling, entitled Bet the House, which was released in the first quarter of 2010.
Roeper was a radio host on WLS AM 890 in Chicago. He also hosted shows on WLUP-FM, WLS-FM, and WMVP-AM in Chicago. In the early 2000s, he was the film critic for CBS in Chicago for three years.
His columns have been syndicated by The New York Times to worldwide publications. Roeper has written for a number of magazines, including Esquire, Spy, TV Guide, Playboy, Maxim, and Entertainment Weekly. In 2001, he was named one of People magazine's most eligible bachelors.
Roeper has been a frequent guest on The Tonight Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The O'Reilly Factor, and countless other national programs. He also hosted Starz Inside, a monthly documentary series that aired on the Starz network. Roeper appeared on the first episode of the fifth season of Entourage, where he reviewed a fake movie titled Medellin with Michael Phillips on At the Movies. In April 2008, Roeper was the central figure on an episode of Top Chef, where contestants served up movie-themed dishes to Roeper and his friends (including Aisha Tyler).
In February 2009, Roeper launched his website, which features movie reviews, blog entries, photos, and Twitter posts. In December 2009, he launched a video section that featured on-camera reviews of movies. The video segments were originally produced in partnership with the Starz premium cable channel. Roeper announced that the reviews would appear first on his site, then on the Starz channel.
In December 2009, it was reported that Roeper had signed with ReelzChannel to be a regular contributor. Beginning in December 2010, Roeper began producing video reviews for ReelzChannel. He stopped reviewing movies for ReelzChannel in February 2015; his final review was for the Jude Law disaster film Black Sea.
From April 12, 2010, to October 7, 2014, he co-hosted The Roe & Roeper Show with Roe Conn on Chicago's WLS 890 radio station from 2-6 pm CST.
In October 2015, Roeper joined the cast of the Fox Chicago morning TV show Good Day Chicago. He signed off from that morning TV show on October 18, 2017. From 2018 until 2021, he was a contributor to Windy City Live and from 2021 onward, a contributor to its predecessor, Windy City Weekend, for WLS-TV.
Roeper was suspended from the Sun-Times on January 29, 2018, pending an investigation into allegations that he had purchased Twitter followers. On February 2, the Sun-Times released a statement stating that their investigation did find that Roeper purchased over 25,000 fake followers. The paper later reinstated him, though he was required to begin using a new account on which he was explicitly disallowed from buying followers.
In November 2025, Roeper provided a voiceover for a Mr. Submarine 50th anniversary ad campaign, reviewing humorously one of the chain's subs as part of a series featuring Chicago notables.
In the mid-1990's, Roeper assumed the role of film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, initially filling in for Roger Ebert on film reviews while continuing his general column work. His contributions grew beginning in 1999, as Roeper took on more dedicated film duties, including daily reviews that were nationally syndicated through the newspaper's network. By the early 2000s, Roeper had established himself as a key voice in print film criticism, producing consistent coverage of new releases that reached readers across the United States.
After Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert died on February 20, 1999, Roger Ebert co-hosted the show with nearly 30 guest critics. After ten appearances on the program, Roeper was offered the opportunity to co-host the popular film review show with Ebert permanently. The series was renamed Ebert & Roeper and the Movies in 2000. The title was shortened to Ebert & Roeper in 2001. Before this, he conducted an interview in 1995 with Siskel and Ebert to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their partnership.
Beginning in August 2006, while his co-host Roger Ebert was recovering from cancer surgery, Roeper was joined by numerous guest critics, including Clerks director Kevin Smith, The Tonight Show host Jay Leno, and singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. On Sunday, July 20, 2008, Roeper announced that he was leaving the show in mid-August and would return with a new show later in the year. However, plans for a new program starring Roeper failed to materialize.
Between 2009 and late 2010, Roeper contributed video reviews to Starz. In December 2010, he moved to ReelzChannel, where he contributed a segment titled Richard Roeper's Reviews every weekday at 5:00 pm ET. Roeper remained with the network until early 2015. In early 2013, Roeper began contributing film reviews to RogerEbert.com. On September 12, 2013, it was announced that Roeper would replace Roger Ebert as the main movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times after his death on April 4, 2013, at the age of 70. In August 2014, Roeper became first-string film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, where he made his debut reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy. During this time, he expanded daily reviews to include TV and streaming content while maintaining syndication. He is a member of Chicago Film Critics Association.
Since 2021, he has hosted a podcast entitled The Richard Roeper Show (formerly Screen Time with Roe and Roeper which he hosted with Roe Conn until 2022) for American Eagle, which airs every Tuesday and Thursday. In 2025, the program evolved to address timely issues, most notably an October 2025 episode dissecting the NBA gambling scandal involving figures like Jontay Porter and its broader implications of sports betting integrity.
On March 19, 2025, Roeper revealed that he accepted a buyout from the Sun-Times to terminate his employment, ending his time at the newspaper after a 39-year run. Despite this, he is expected to keep reviewing movies on his podcast and for Windy City Weekend on WLS-TV. Roeper's last review for the Sun-Times, published on March 20, 2025, was for Snow White.
In 2025, Roeper became a regular contributor to RogerEbert.com. Later that same year in October, he launched the podcast The Movie of Your Life which explores connections between life experiences and beloved films. The series premiered on October 17, 2025, with a November 3 episode featuring an in-depth discussion with Chaz Ebert on her preservation of Roger Ebert's legacy, the evolution of film criticism, and the influential movies in their lives.
Roeper's critical approach draws heavily from his predecessors Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, whose partnership on Siskel & Ebert whom he emulated by adopting their accessible, debate-driven style that balances enthusiasm for cinema with honest critique, crediting Ebert's passion for championing underseen films and Siskel's rigorous standards as shaping his own methods of evaluating movies for both entertainment value and artistic merit.
Roeper's review methodology emphasized accessibility and balance, blending detailed analysis with a conversational tone to appeal to a broad audience. He adopted the four-star rating system traditional to his job at the Chicago Sun-Times, where four stars denoted exceptional films and one star indicated significant flaws, often highlighting narrative strengths, performances, and cultural relevance. While inheriting the thumbs-up/down binary from the Siskel & Ebert tradition, Roeper primarily used it in supplementary contexts, focusing in print on nuanced critiques that covered both mainstream blockbusters and independent cinema. His approach prioritized conceptual insights, such as a film's emotional impact or innovative storytelling, over exhaustive technical breakdowns.
Among his notable reviews, Roeper praised the innovative structure of Christopher Nolan's 2000 film Memento, awarding it four stars for its reverse-chronological narrative and psychological depth, which helped elevate its profile as a indie thriller. Similarly, his enthusiastic four-star endorsement of Ang Lee's 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon underscored its blend of martial arts spectacle and emotional resonance, contributing to its mainstream breakthrough and Oscar success. Roeper also championed Chicago-centric films, such as revisiting the 1986 John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off in later articles where he described it as a "suicide prevention film" through its themes of friendship and resilience, thereby promoting the city's cinematic heritage. These reviews exemplified his role in bridging local culture with national discourse, often spotlighting indie projects and regional filmmakers to foster the Chicago cinema scene.
Roeper has cited The Maltese Falcon, The Godfather trilogy, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off as among his favorite films. On The Maltese Falcon, Roeper praised its sharp dialogue, intricate plotting, and status as a cornerstone of film noir that captivated him during childhood viewings on late-night television, describing the film's narrative innovation, particularly Humphrey Bogart's portrayal of the cynical detective Sam Spade, as a formative influence on his appreciation for morally complex storytelling. On The Godfather trilogy, Roeper highlighted its epic scope, character-driven drama, and groundbreaking blend of family saga with crime thriller elements that redefined the gangster genre. He has noted the trilogy's enduring impact through its exploration of power, loyalty, and betrayal, calling the first two films the pinnacle of director Francis Ford Coppola's work. On Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the film holds a special place for him due to its Chicago setting, which resonates with his local roots, praising it for its innovative, joyful take on teenage rebellion and breaking the fourth wall. In a 2009 retrospective, Roeper stated that, "It has one of the highest 'repeatability' factors of any film I've ever seen...I can watch it again and again. There's also this, and I say in all sincerity: Ferris Bueller's Day Off is something of a suicide prevention film or, at the very least, a story about a young man trying to help his friend gain some measure of self-worth...Ferris has made it his mission to show Cameron that the whole world in front of him is passing him by and that life can be pretty sweet if you wake up and embrace it. That's the lasting message of Ferris Bueller's Day Off." In addition, in a 2016 retrospective, Roeper appreciated the film's narrative flair and Matthew Broderick's charismatic performance as emblematic of John Hughes' influnence on 1980's comedy. Roeper pays homage to the film with a license plate that says "SVFRRIS".
In a 2000 interview, he cited Woody Allen as a hero of filmmaking. Among his favorite films from the 1990s are Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Heat, Good Will Hunting, and Notting Hill. In November 2004, on a special segment of Ebert & Roeper, Roeper stated that his all-time favorite film about Thanksgiving is Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Since 2000, Roeper has compiled an annual film list which provides an overview of his critical preferences.
In 1992, he was awarded the National Headliner Award as the top newspaper columnist in the country. He won two Chicago / Midwest Emmy Awards for his news commentaries on Fox. On April 11, 2020, Roeper was awarded the Roger Ebert Award at the 2020 AAFCA Special Achievement Award Luncheon.