N.Y. Times Critic Canby Promoted

Vincent Canby was named chief theater critic of the New York Times on Friday, after David Richards resigned to become a national cultural affairs writer for the Washington Post.

In his new position at the Post, the 54-year-old Richards will write profiles, news features and essays on arts and entertainment, said Virginia Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the newspaper. He will assume his new duties sometime in January.

Canby, the Times’ Sunday theater critic, will start his new job next week, said Warren Hoge, a Times assistant managing editor. His old position has not yet been filled, Hoge added.

“Vincent will write a couple more (columns), and then, in the new year, there will probably be a variety of contributors to that space from the Times staff,” Hoge said.

Canby, 70, became the Times’ chief film critic in 1969 after working for the paper as a cultural news reporter and for Variety as a theater and movie reporter and critic. He became the Sunday theater critic last December.