He next landed in the publicity department of Look magazine, doing promotionals with “two other kids” — Lawrence K. Grossman, who became president of NBC, and Marvin Josephson, who founded the talent agency International Creative Management.
Mr. Shalit was married to Nancy Lewis from 1951 until her death in 1978, and they had six children: Peter, Willa, Emily, Amanda, Nevin and Andrew. Emily died in 2012. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
In the 1950s and early ’60s, Mr. Shalit wrote columns and culture reviews for Ladies’ Home Journal and Look magazine. An NBC executive spotted his writing and, worried about how audiences might react to his mustache and hair, hired him in 1967 for network radio work. A year later, NBC took a chance and he began appearing on the “Today” show.
“Once Gene was on, he’d get letters like, ‘Who is this part-time anarchist that you have on television?’” Mr. Ludwig recalled. “But what resonated above his unusual appearance was his incredible wit, his remarkable intelligence.”
From 1970 to 1982, Mr. Shalit produced a daily essay for NBC Radio, “Man About Anything,” which was heard on more stations than any other NBC network feature. He was an occasional panelist on “What’s My Line?”; hosted programs on the “Masterpiece Mystery” series; and wrote for TV Guide, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Glamour, McCall’s, The New York Times and other publications.
“Laughing Matters: A Celebration of American Humor,” a compendium of works by 200 authors, script writers and cartoonists selected by Mr. Shalit, was published in 1987. Mr. Shalit loved classical music, played the bassoon and performed with the Boston Symphony in Boston, at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood near his home in Stockbridge, Mass., and at Lincoln Center in New York. He once conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony in a full concert. He liked to say that in none of these venues was he ever invited back.
