It’s a dark day for the Today show cast and viewers, as they lost one of their brightest stars. Gene Shalit, a renowned movie critic and arts reporter for the decades-old NBC show, has passed away after celebrating his 100th birthday earlier this year. His colleagues, including host Savannah Guthrie, had joined in to celebrate the legend’s milestone birthday, unaware that they would be returning weeks later to bid goodbye.
Shalit’s family confirmed in a statement to NBC News that he died peacefully on Friday, June 12, 2026, “100 years of an amazing life.” For generations of viewers, he was a fixture of morning television, delighting those around him with his trademark hair and moustache, colorful bow ties, and punny reviews. But what was the ever-similing figure’s personal life like? Well, it was not bereft of heartbreak and profound losses.
Gene Shalit faced profound grief when he lost his wife to cancer
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