Popular US movie critic Gene Shalit dies aged 100

Wisecracking veteran US movie critic Gene Shalit has died aged 100, his family has confirmed to his former network NBC.

The moustachioed reviewer became known for his playful humour, celebrity interviews and animated reviews in his personalised segment Critics Corner on NBC's flagship morning programme the Today show.

Shalit's family wrote that he "passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life". No cause of death was provided.

"The 'TODAY' Show was an extraordinary era for him," his family said in a statement shared with NBC News.

Shalit became a popular fixture in American households from the 1970s through to his retirement in 2010, stylistically standing out with his thick-framed spectacles, polkadot bowties and frizzed hair, suffusing his segments with pun-filled wordplay.

Marking his 100th birthday earlier this year, the Today programme compiled a montage of famous celebrity interviews over his years, including Hollywood stars like Carol Channing and Liza Minelli, and director Steven Speilberg.

Presenters remarked that he would eke out personal confessions and emotional reactions from his guests through his skilful questioning.

He also interviewed the leading cast of Star Wars, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill, at the crescendo of the sci-fi franchise's popularity in the 70s.

Prior to his TV career, Shalit was a senior film critic for Look Magazine, and continued to spend years penning columns in the New York Times, Ladies' Home Journal and TV Guide.

In 2002, his book Great Hollywood Wit was published, an anthology he wrote features a "glorious cavalcade of Hollywood wisecracks, zingers, japes, quips, slings, jests, snappers, & sass from the stars", as teased on the front cover featuring a caricature in his unique likeness.

Shalit planned to write a book titled Procrastination is a Full Time Job upon retiring from the Today show, according to his network profile. It was never published.



-BBC