Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

and previously served as a movie critic for ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. Travers also hosts the film interview program ''Popcorn with Peter Travers'' for ABC News.

Early life and education

Travers grew up in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, the son of Howard and Ruth Travers. He received a BA degree from Manhattan College in 1965 before graduating from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

with an MA in English.

Career

According to eFilmCritic.com, Travers is the nation's most " blurbed" film critic. Travers' blurbs were being printed in newspapers as early as 1970, when he was a writer for ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''. By the mid-1970s, he was a film critic for '' The Herald Statesman'', a Yonkers newspaper. In the 1980s, he wrote for ''

'' for four years before joining ''Rolling Stone'' in 1989. In 2020, he departed ''Rolling Stone'' and became the film critic for

. Travers hosts the New York Film Critics Series, a company that hosts

live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

screening events and discussions, as well as the ABC News show '' Popcorn with Peter Travers'', where he interviews actors and directors about the latest projects and their lives.

Personal life

Travers married Diane Harris of

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

in 1967; the marriage ended in divorce. In 1980, Travers married Robyn Lee Reeves, an actress and graduate of Vassar College, in an Episcopalian ceremony. He has three children: Jennifer, David and Alex.

Preferences

Favorites

In 2010, When asked to rank the best films of the 2000s decade, Travers named: *1. ''

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American epic film, epic historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kev ...

'' (2007) *2. '' Children of Men'' (2006) *3. '' Mulholland Drive'' (2001) *4. ''

A History of Violence ''A History of Violence'' is a 2005 action thriller film directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson. It is an adaptation of the 1997 DC Comics, DC A History of Violence (comics), graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. The fi ...

'' (2005) *5. ''

No Country for Old Men ''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin ...

'' (2007) *6. ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...

'' (2004) *7. ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...

'' (2005) *8. ''

The Departed ''The Departed'' is a 2006 crime film, crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both an English-language remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film ''Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-lif ...

'' (2006) *9. '' Mystic River'' (2003) *10. ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' (2001–2003)

Best of the year

Since his career as a film critic from ''

'' to ''

'', Travers marked these films the best of the year:

References

External links

Peter Travers
at

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Peter 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers ABC News people American film critics National Society of Film Critics Members American magazine writers American television journalists Living people New York University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Rolling Stone people Year of birth missing (living people)