Gene Shalit, the legendary film critic best known for his long run on NBC’s “Today” show, died Friday, June 12, NBC reported. He was 100 years old.
Shalit “passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life,” his family told NBC News in a statement.
Shalit became a beloved figure in American media thanks to his distinctive, pun-filled takes on American film − and his on-air persona, including his handlebar mustache, glasses and bow ties.
His career started in print journalism, at publications like Ladies’ Home Journal and The New York Times. He joined the “Today” show as a contributor in 1970 before becoming a full-time book and film critic three years later − and remained in the role for another 37 years.
When he turned 100 on March 25, “Today” marked the occasion with his photo on a Smuckers jam jar, a longtime network tradition, with Al Roker sending birthday wishes to their former colleague.
Gene Shalit, forever a movie fan
As the go-to movie critic on “Today,” Shalit took an approach that was much different than competitors like Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Where their reviews could be scathing, Shalit often gave fun and pun-filled takes from his “Critic’s Corner,” sometimes while smoking a cigar. Viewers loved his generous approach, but others said he lacked a critical eye.
While he approached the job with wit and humor and was a true movie fan, Shalit didn’t hold back negative reviews. “Two words, Ishtar ish horrible,” he said of the 1987 flop starring Dustin Hoffman.
And his review of “Brokeback Mountain” sparked controversy when he described Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) as a “sexual predator” toward Ennis (played by Heath Ledger). GLAAD spoke out against the review as “ignorant and irresponsible,” and Shalit apologized, adding that he regretted “any emotional hurt” he had caused.
In addition to his critical takes, Shalit interviewed many of Hollywood’s greats, from the then-little known stars of “Star Wars” (“the only actor named after two presidents,” he called Harrison Ford) to Oprah Winfrey, following her Oscar nomination for “The Color Purple.”
His persona inspired parodies, including on “Saturday Night Live” and as a fish food critic named “Gene Scallop” in “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
“He was a naturally funny guy,” fellow critic Leonard Maltin told NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. “I think sometimes he was more interested in the wisecracks than in the sober judgement of the movie. Which is probably what his producer wanted.”
Gene Shalit’s early days
Shalit was born in New York but raised in Newark and Morristown, New Jersey, where his father owned a drug store. But the journalism bug bit him young; in high school, he created the first school paper, The Spotlight. And at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he wrote for The Daily Illini.
Early in his career, Shalit worked on the other side of the media industry, serving as press agent for Dick Clark. But when Clark was swept up in the “payola” scandal − which led to a Congressional investigation into the illicit practice of record labels paying DJs to play songs − Shalit stopped representing him, and the two never spoke again. (“Gene Shalit was a jellyfish,” Clark told the New York Times in 2011.)
He got back to writing in 1967, and after a stint on the NBC Radio Network, joined the “Today” show.
“He was a guy who was known as being funny around the office,” Maltin said. “And somebody said, you’re too funny to be doing public relations work. I’m gonna put you on the air.”
Maltin credits Shalit for launching his own career. “Very specifically, I was booked on the ‘Today’ show when I was an author, when I was younger,” he said. “They always do a pre-interview with you. And he came into the green room with me prior and said, ‘Do I have to stick to the list?’ And I said no, ask anything you want.’ And we had a very lovely conversation.”
Shalit didn’t just save his humor for the screen; he was as funny in real-life. “How do I know this? My wife and I were at a screening of ‘Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,’ “ Maltin said. “And my wife leaned over and made a wisecrack to me about how bad the film was. And sitting behind us was Gene Shalit. He said: ‘Would you mind sitting up straight and blocking my view again?”
Shalit was married to Nancy Lewis for 28 years before her death from cancer in 1978. They had six children, including Willa Shalit.
In his book Great Hollywood Wit, a collection of “zingers” from people in the industry, he wrote, “Hollywood is renowned for its backstabbing, front stabbing, revenge, envy, promises, rogues, deceit, soundrels, geniuses, semigeniuses, quasigeniuses, former geniuses, deciduous loyalty, flagrant dreams, brains, bodies, breasts, butts, buffoons, mountebanks, intellectuals, and many intelligent good-hearted souls.” Many people remember him as one of them.
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