DOLTON, Ill. (WLS) — These days, the south suburb of Dolton is in the news more for events at City Hall than in the community, most notably the travails of current Mayor Tiffany Henyard, who is under FBI scrutiny for her handling of the village’s finances.
But, the reality is that Dolton has long been a haven for working-class families looking for affordable, attractive housing.
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In the latest edition of “Our Chicago: Neighborhood Walk,” Val Warner took a tour of Dolton with one of its most notable former residents: movie critic Richard Roeper.
Roeper has long been one of Chicago’s most prominent media personalities. He first came to prominence in the 1990s, as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. He has also spent time as a radio personality and news anchor.
But, he is best known for his years as one of America’s great movie critics. He starred with legendary Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert in the long-running syndicated television series “At The Movies with Ebert and Roeper.”
And he is still reviewing movies for the Sun-Times, his own podcast and on ABC7 Chicago’s Friday morning program, “Windy City Weekend.”
Roeper met Warner at the home where he grew up, at the intersection of 156th Street and Maryland Avenue in Dolton.
“We were a working-class family that came from a very loving home,” Roeper said about growing up in the south suburb. “I lived in this house from the time I was 6 until really I went off to college.”
“A lot of people say DOLE-ton, but it’s actually ‘Dalton,’ founded by the Dolton sisters and their father, George, in 1854”, Roeper said.
The homes have not changed much since the Roeper family moved from the community.
“I think these houses were built, I want to say around the 50s,” Roeper said. “We moved in closer to 1970, but the structures were beautifully done, the construction and everything.”
After walking through his old neighborhood, Warner and Roeper walked to nearby Thornridge High School, located at 15000 S. Cottage Grove Ave., which he attended with another notable former Dolton resident, Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Lynch, from “Glee,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and more.
“Jane went here a year behind me,” Roeper recalled. “I’ve known Jane pretty much forever. And we knew even then she had this blazing talent. So, it wasn’t a surprise that she went on to win Emmys and do ‘Glee’ and all these other things. But a lot of that started right here.”
Roeper walked through the halls of Thornridge with Warner, spotted his old locker and even remembered the high school cheer.
“Onward, onward Thornridge High, onto victory, do or die,” Roeper chanted. “I had great teachers, and also met a lot of friends who are my friends to this day.”
The two then walked to Almar Plaza, a strip mall at 154th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, which dates back to the 1950s.
“Our grocery store was here, the barber,” Roeper recalled. “I remember doing some driving lessons here with my mom and dad when I was 15.”
They then walked to the Dolton Public Library, a place that Roeper credited for his love of reading.
“My mom would take me to the library once a week, and I would just take a big stack of books, different subjects, you know, just everything you could think of,” Roeper said.
They ended their Dolton tour with a visit to another staple of the south suburb – the Dolton Bowl, which first opened its doors in the late 1950s.
“It was a polling place when I was growing up,” Roeper recalled. “My mom would take the kids there, and she’d vote for (George) McGovern, Jimmy Carter. And then a few years later, I may or may not have come in to indulge in the (Miller) High Life.”
The two ended the tour with a few frames of bowling.
“I need the bumpers when I bowl,” Warner said.
You can see their complete tour of Dolton in the above video.
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