“‘The Silence of the Lambs' may be all wool and a yard wide, but it makes a terrific yarn,†he said in his review of the 1991 horror classic, which won best picture at the Academy Awards the following year.
He rarely minced words when a movie left him cold. In panning “X-Men,†he said the first entry in the hit superhero franchise “should not be taken seriously. In fact, it should be taken with two aspirin.†Judd Apatow's “Funny People†is “passable,†he said — “speaking colonically.â€
In addition to surveying Hollywood releases, Shalit interviewed some of the biggest stars of the day, from Oprah Winfrey to Harrison Ford. His questions ranged from the serious to the silly, such as when he asked Kermit the Frog whether he planned to marry Miss Piggy.
“What resonated above his unusual appearance was his incredible wit, his remarkable intelligence. But he didn't pound you over the head with it. He amused you. He enlightened and amused whatever subject he was on,†Guy Ludwig, Shalit's producer for more than 20 years, wrote in an essay published on the “TODAY†website in 2010.
Shalit started his career as a print journalist. He was the senior film critic for Look Magazine and wrote the “What's Happening?†page for Ladies Home Journal for a dozen years. He published articles in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, Seventeen, Glamour and McCall's.
He composed and broadcast a daily “Man About Anything†essay on NBC's coast-to-coast radio network from 1969 to 1982, according to his profile on the “TODAY†show website. He was also a regular panelist on the game shows “What's My Line?†and “To Tell The Truth.â€
