{"id":10931,"date":"2026-06-16T01:01:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T01:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/?p=10931"},"modified":"2026-06-16T01:01:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T01:01:54","slug":"gene-shalit-beloved-today-show-movie-critic-dies-at-100-after-a-remarkable-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/?p=10931","title":{"rendered":"Gene Shalit, Beloved \u2018TODAY\u2019 Show Movie Critic, Dies at 100 After a Remarkable Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement released on June 12, Shalit\u2019s family said he \u201cpassed away peacefully\u201d after living what they described as an extraordinary life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born on March 25, 1926, Shalit became one of television\u2019s most recognizable personalities thanks to his handlebar mustache, bow ties, and witty movie reviews filled with memorable puns. He joined TODAY as a part-time contributor in 1970 and became a full-time member of the show in 1973, remaining with the program until his retirement in 2010.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout his career, Shalit interviewed countless celebrities and became known for his lighthearted, entertaining approach to film criticism. Beyond TODAY, he appeared on popular game shows, wrote for major publications including\u00a0<em>The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>TV Guide<\/em>, and hosted a daily radio feature called\u00a0<em>Man About Anything<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shalit also authored several books celebrating humor and Hollywood, including\u00a0<em>Laughing Matters: A Celebration of American Humor<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Great Hollywood Wit<\/em>. His unique personality even earned him a voice role on\u00a0<em>SpongeBob SquarePants<\/em>\u00a0and frequent parodies on shows such as\u00a0<em>Saturday Night Live<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Family Guy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"TODAY icon Gene Shalit dies at 100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B2-6w8HRKG4?feature=oembed\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-origwidth=\"780\" data-origheight=\"439\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He is survived by his six children. His wife, Nancy, preceded him in death, as did their daughter Emily, who passed away in 2012.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gene Shalit leaves behind a lasting legacy as one of television\u2019s most memorable entertainment critics, remembered for bringing humor, warmth, and a love of movies to generations of viewers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">m<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a statement released on June 12, Shalit\u2019s family said he \u201cpassed away peacefully\u201d after living what they described as an extraordinary life. Born on March 25, 1926, Shalit became one of television\u2019s most&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10932,"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10931\/revisions\/10932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originaltastex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}