A November 2011 file photo of Edward Herrmann (AP file photo).
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) --
The late actor Edward Herrmann's final project before he died of brain cancer last month was narrating an upcoming PBS documentary on the disease.
The six-hour project, based on the book "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies" by Siddhartha Mukherjee, will air over three nights in March.
Herrmann collapsed because of a seizure on the first day he came to work and had to explain to filmmaker Barak Goodman that it was because of his cancer, Goodman said. Still, Herrmann was determined to do the work.
"He felt it appropriate that this would be his final project," Goodman said.
Herrmann, known for playing the grandfather in "Gilmore Girls," died in New York on Dec. 31.
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In this May 31, 2006 file photo, film critic Gene Shalit is seen during a toast with "Today" show cast and crew at the end of Katie Couric's final show, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the "Today" show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100.
Shalit's family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he "passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life."
Shalit joined "Today" as a contributor in 1970 and became arts editor in 1973, later settling in for his segment, "Critic's Corner." When he left the show in 2010, he was one of the last high-profile film critics on a major network.
"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 of his time.
It was no coincidence that Chicago critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's local "thumbs-up, thumbs-down" movie-review program, "Sneak Previews," went national on PBS in the late 1970s and that "Today" show's ABC rival, "Good Morning America," hired Joel Siegel to be its movie critic in 1981.
"Shalit was instrumental in changing the balance of critical power in America. When he began his 'Today' tenure, newspapers and magazines were the primary sources for movie reviews. That's where cinematic opinion was sparked and shaped," The Plain Dealer wrote in 2010, calling Shalit "Daniel Boone in a bow tie and Groucho glasses."
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