Besides reviewing movies, books, plays and other cultural offerings, Mr. Shalit interviewed authors and entertainers, including Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro and Sophia Loren. He did cameos of himself in several movies and television shows, and was a familiar figure on television game and talk shows and charity fund-raisers.
On “Today,” a program sensitive to ratings and notable for personnel changes, Mr. Shalit was the durable mainstay in a cast that over the years included Barbara Walters, Jim Hartz, Tom Brokaw, John Chancellor, Hugh Downs, Joe Garagiola, Deborah Norville, Jane Pauley, Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, Al Roker, Willard Scott, Matt Lauer and Ann Curry.
Mr. Shalit joined “Today” in 1968 as a book reviewer, became a regular in 1970 and was the culture critic from 1973 until he retired in 2010.
His producer, Guy Ludwig, reflecting on Mr. Shalit’s long career in 2010, recalled seeing Mr. Shalit, late in his career, entering a theater for a screening with a look of glee on his face.
“My God, how could you?” he said. “You’ve seen two million movies.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Shalit replied, “but I’ve never seen this one!”
Eugene Theodore Shalit (rhymes with PAL-it) was born in New York City on March 25, 1926, to Latvian immigrants, Isadore and Anna (Michelovich) Shalit. He grew up in Newark and Morristown, N.J., where his father owned a drugstore. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1949.
