Gene Shalit, longtime NBC movie critic, dies at 100
What's new: Shalit spent 40 years on NBC's “Today” and became one of network TV's last prominent film critics before retiring in 2010.
Gene Shalit, the longtime movie critic and arts reporter whose puns, bushy mustache and bow ties made him a familiar face on NBC's “Today,” has died at 100. His family told NBC News that he died peacefully Friday after “100 years of an amazing life,” though no cause was given. Shalit joined “Today” in 1970, became arts editor in 1973 and later fronted the “Critic's Corner” segment. Before television, he wrote for McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal and Look magazine, where he became senior film critic in 1968. He remained on the morning show until retiring in 2010, after helping bring movie criticism from print into mainstream television.