Overview
- His family told NBC News that Shalit "passed away peacefully" on Friday, June 12, 2026, at age 100.
- Shalit joined NBC’s Today as a contributor in 1970, moved to a full-time role by 1973, and was the program’s lead film and book critic until his 2010 retirement.
- He was best known for his bow ties, bushy hair and mustache, and for pun-filled "Critic’s Corner" reviews that made him a widely recognized television personality.
- A 2005 review of Brokeback Mountain drew public criticism from GLAAD after he called a character a "sexual predator," and his son Peter publicly defended him.
- Shalit began in print and radio—serving as senior film critic at Look and hosting the "Man About Anything" radio essays—and is remembered for helping shift film criticism from print to television; he is survived by his children and marked his 100th birthday earlier this year.