Eugene "Gene" Shalit (March 25, 1926 – June 12, 2026) was an American movie and book critic. He was a critic on NBC's The Today Show from 1973 until his retirement in 2010. He was known for his use of puns, his very large handlebar moustache, and for wearing bowties.
He started his career in reviewing the arts in 1967. He wrote for magazines such as Look magazine, Ladies' Home Journal (for 12 years), Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, Seventeen, Glamour, McCall's, and The New York Times. From 1970–1982 he had a daily report on NBC Radio. In 1987, he published Laughing Matters—A Treasury of American Humor, a humor anthology. Since 2009, he lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, with his cat Fellini. Shalit's children include the artist and entrepreneur Willa Shalit.
Shalit wrote for The Daily Illini for six years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Shalit said that he would leave The Today Show after 40 years, starting November 11, 2010. He was quoted as saying: "It's enough already". Shalit was Dick Clark's press agent in the early 1960s. Shalit stopped representing Clark during a Congressional investigation. Clark has not spoken to Shalit again and said he was a "jellyfish."
Shalit was born in New York City on March 25, 1926. He later moved to Newark, New Jersey with his mother. In 1932, he and his family moved to Morristown, New Jersey. Born of Jewish parents, Shalit attended Morristown High School. While thee, he wrote a humor column for the school newspaper.
Shalit turned 100 in March 2026. He died three months later on June 12, 2026 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
