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Gene Shalit, the legendary film critic best known for his long run on NBC’s “Today” show, died Friday, June 12, NBC reported<\/a>. He was 100 years old.<\/p>\n Shalit “passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life,” his family told NBC News in a statement.<\/p>\n Shalit became a beloved figure in American media thanks to his distinctive, pun-filled takes on American film \u2212 and his on-air persona, including his handlebar mustache, glasses and bow ties.<\/p>\n 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 \u2212 and remained in the role for another 37 years.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, adding that he regretted “any emotional hurt” he had caused.<\/p>\n In addition to his critical takes, Shalit interviewed many of Hollywood’s greats, from the then-little known stars of “Star Wars”<\/a> (“the only actor named after two presidents,” he called Harrison Ford) to Oprah Winfrey<\/a>, following her Oscar nomination for “The Color Purple.”<\/p>\n His persona inspired parodies, including on “Saturday Night Live” and as a fish food critic named “Gene Scallop” in “SpongeBob SquarePants.”<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a naturally funny guy,\u201d fellow critic Leonard Maltin told NorthJersey.com<\/a>, part of the USA TODAY Network. \u201cI think sometimes he was more interested in the wisecracks than in the sober judgement of the movie.\u00a0Which is probably what his producer wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\nGene Shalit, forever a movie fan<\/h2>\n
Gene Shalit’s early days<\/h2>\n