Gene Shalit, wry film critic who brightened NBC’s Today for 40 years, dies at 100
Gene Shalit, the quick-witted film critic whose bushy mustache, polka-dot bow ties and pun-filled reviews made him a four-decade fixture on NBC’s Today show, died Friday at age 100. His family said he ‘passed away peacefully after 100 years of an amazing life.’
A life in print and on screen
Shalit was born on March 25, 1926 in New York and raised in New Jersey. He began his journalism career in print, working as a senior film critic for Look Magazine and writing columns for the New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal and TV Guide before moving to radio and television.
Four decades on Today
Shalit joined NBC’s Today in 1970 as a book reviewer and replaced Joe Garagiola as the show’s film critic three years later. For the next 40 years, until his retirement in November 2010, he delivered animated movie reviews from a custom-built ‘Critics Corner’ set, often acting as a spirited counterweight to the morning show’s heavier news segments.
A critic of puns and personality
Shalit’s trademark look (thick-framed glasses, polka-dot bow ties, a bushy mustache and wild black hair) made him one of the most recognisable faces on American television. His reviews were laced with wordplay: he assessed the 1987 comedy flop Ishtar with ‘Two words, Ishtar ish horrible’ and described The Silence of the Lambs as ‘all wool, and a yard wide, but it makes a terrific yarn.’ He once called Judd Apatow’s Funny People ‘passable… speaking colonically.’
Celebrity interviews
From Richard Burton reading names out of a phone book to Carol Channing reducing him to tears of laughter with a story about a London dinner party, Shalit was known for putting celebrities at ease. He interviewed stars from Sophia Loren to Steven Spielberg, and even the cast of Star Wars at the height of its 1970s fame.
He is the Today show.
Final days
Shalit’s family confirmed his death to NBC News on Friday, 12 June 2026, saying he ‘passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life.’ No cause was given. He had turned 100 earlier this year, prompting Today to compile a montage of his most memorable interviews.
