Gene Shalit, the Bow-Tied ‘Today’ Show Film Critic Who Made Puns Into a Career, Dies at 100 (opens in new tab)

Gene Shalit, the film and book critic who made himself as famous as many of the stars he reviewed — through his explosion of dark hair, sprawling mustache, oversize glasses, and an unfailing ability to pack a pun into any sentence — died on Friday, June 12, 2026. He was 100. His family told NBC News he passed “after 100 years of an amazing life.” Shalit spent four decades at NBC’s Today show, joining as a book reviewer in 1970 and stepping up as the program’s primary film critic in 1973 when ...