Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's The Graduate (1967) for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He appeared in acting roles in Nichols's Catch-22 (1970)—also co-written with Nichols—Herbert Ross's and The Owl and the Pussycat (1970). He was a co-writer on Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972). In 1978, he co-directed Heaven Can Wait (1978) with Warren Beatty, receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. He later appeared in Albert Brooks's Defending Your Life (1991), and the Robert Altman films The Player (1992) and Short Cuts (1993).
His long career began on television with work on shows with Steve Allen in The New Steve Allen Show (1961). He co-created Get Smart (1965–1970) with Mel Brooks for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. He also served as a 10-time host of Saturday Night Live (SNL) and was the inaugural member of the show's Five Timer's Club, a humorous designation used to denote people who have hosted at least five episodes of SNL. He later guest-starred in such popular shows as Murphy Brown, Hot in Cleveland, Will & Grace, and 30 Rock.
Early life Henry was born on December 9, 1930, in New York City, as Henry Zuckerman. His mother was Ruth Taylor (January 13, 1905 – April 12, 1984), a silent film actress, star of the original version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and his father was Paul Steinberg Zuckerman (April 15, 1899 – December 3, 1965), an Air Force brigadier general and stockbroker. Though the young Zuckerman was nicknamed 'Buck' from childhood, he did not officially change his name to Buck Henry until the 1970s; both his birth name and nickname came from his grandfather.
Henry attended The Choate School, at the time an all-boys institution (now Choate Rosemary Hall). At 15 years old, he made his professional acting debut in a Broadway production of Life with Father, which later toured theaters in Brooklyn, Long Island, and the Bronx. Henry earned a bachelor's degree in English literature and a senior fellowship in writing at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he wrote for the college humor magazine, the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, and met movie director Bob Rafelson.
Following graduation, he enlisted in the Army during the Korean War. He served in West Germany first as a helicopter mechanic and then transferred to Special Services, where he toured with the Seventh Army Repertory Company, performing in a play he both wrote and directed.
Career Acting and writing Henry joined the improvisational comedy group the Premise, whose ranks included George Segal and Theodore J. Flicker, performing in the West Village in Manhattan. This helped lead him into a television career.
From 1959 to 1962, as part of an elaborate hoax by comedian Alan Abel, he made public appearances as G. Clifford Prout, the quietly outraged president of the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, who presented his point of view on talk shows. The character of Prout wished to clothe all animals in order to prevent their 'indecency', using slogans such as "A nude horse is a rude horse". Henry played the character with deadpan sincerity. He was often presented as an eccentric, but was otherwise taken seriously by the broadcasters who interviewed him. "Prout" received many letters of support from TV viewers, and even some unsolicited monetary donations, all of which were invariably returned, as neither Henry nor Abel (who had no intention of following through on the Society's stated aims) wanted to be accused of raising money fraudulently.
Henry became a cast member on The New Steve Allen Show (1961) and the US version of That Was the Week That Was (1964–1965).
He was a co-creator and writer for the secret agent comedy television series Get Smart (1965–1970), with comedian Mel Brooks. The show lasted for five seasons and 138 episodes and won numerous Emmy Awards. Two TV projects created by Henry had short runs: Captain Nice (1967) with William Daniels as a reluctant superhero, and Quark (1978), with Richard Benjamin in command of a garbage scow in outer space.
Henry shared an Oscar nomination with Calder Willingham for their screenplay for The Graduate (1967), in which he also appeared in a supporting role as a hotel desk clerk. Henry's cameo in The Player (1992) had him (playing himself) pitching a 25-years-later sequel to The Graduate, which Henry later claimed led to real-life interest in such a project from some studios.
His many other screen writing credits included the sex farce Candy (1968), the romantic comedies The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) and What's Up, Doc? (1972), the satire Catch-22 (1970), the thriller The Day of the Dolphin (1973), the comedy Protocol (1984), and the dark crime dramedy To Die For (1995). In several of these, such as Candy and Catch-22, he also appeared as an actor. In 1997, Henry was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award.
Overall he appeared in more than 40 films, including a lead role in Taking Off (1971) and supporting roles in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Gloria (1980), Eating Raoul (1982), Aria (1987), Tune in Tomorrow (1990), Defending Your Life (1991), Short Cuts (1993), and Grumpy Old Men (1993).
He co-directed Heaven Can Wait (1978), the remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, with the movie's star Warren Beatty and appeared in the film as an officious angel, reprising the character originally played by Edward Everett Horton. Henry received a second shared Oscar nomination, this time for Best Director.
Throughout his career, Henry became known for guest-starring and recurring roles on television. In 1982, he made a brief unscheduled appearance in an episode of The Price is Right where he drove a prop train on stage carrying a freezer for contestants to bid on. He also appeared in an episode of Murphy Brown ("My Dinner With Einstein", 1989) as Dr. Victor Rudman, a fractal scientist who dated Murphy. He appeared on the television show Will & Grace in 2005. In 2007, he made two guest appearances on The Daily Show as a contributor, billed as the show's "Senior Senior Correspondent". He has also appeared as Liz Lemon's father, Dick Lemon, in the 30 Rock episodes "Ludachristmas" (December 13, 2007) and "Gentleman's Intermission" (November 4, 2010). In 2011, he appeared in a multi-episode arc of Hot in Cleveland as Elka's groom.
His Broadway credits included the 2002 revival of Morning's at Seven. Off-Broadway in July 2009, he starred opposite Holland Taylor in Mother, a play by Lisa Ebersole.
Saturday Night Live Henry hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live ten times between 1976 and 1980, making him the show's most frequent host during its initial five-year run and on November 19, 1977, Henry became the first to host five times. It became a tradition during these years for Henry to host the final show of each season, beginning with the 1976–1977 season. Henry's frequent host record was broken when Steve Martin made his 11th appearance as host of the show on the finale episode of the 1988–1989 season., Alec Baldwin is the most frequent male host in SNL history with 17 episodes beginning in 1990. During the episode of October 30, 1976, Henry was injured in the forehead by John Belushi's katana in the samurai sketch. Henry's head began to bleed and he was forced to wear a large bandage on his forehead for the rest of the show. As a gag, the members of the SNL cast each wore a bandage on their foreheads as well.
Recurring characters on SNL Howard, a sadistic stunt coordinator. Marshall DiLaMuca, father of Bill Murray's character Todd in The Nerds sketches. Mr. Dantley, the straight man and frequent customer of Samurai Futaba's (John Belushi) many businesses. Uncle Roy, a single, pedophile uncle who babysat his nieces played by Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman. The three sketches, written by Rosie Shuster and Anne Beatts, remain controversial.
Celebrity impersonations on SNL Charles Lindbergh John Dean Ron Nessen
Death Henry died of a heart attack at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on January 8, 2020, at age 89.
Filmography
Film Source: Turner Classic Movies Year Title Role Notes 1959 The Bridge Voice, English version 1964 The Troublemaker T.R. Kingston Also writer 1967 The Graduate Room Clerk Also writer 1968 The Secret War of Harry Frigg Stockade Commandant 1968 Candy Mental Patient Also writer 1970 Catch-22 Lieutenant Colonel Korn Also writer 1970 The Owl and the Pussycat Bookstore Man Also writerUncredited 1971 Taking Off Larry Tyne 1971 Is There Sex After Death? Dr. Louise Manos 1973 The Day of the Dolphin Women's Club Man Also writerUncredited 1976 The Man Who Fell to Earth Oliver Farnsworth 1977 The Absent-Minded Waiter Bernie Cates Short 1978 Heaven Can Wait The Escort Also writer / director 1979 Old Boyfriends Art Kopple 1980 Gloria Jack Dawn 1980 First Family Father Sandstone TV Anchorman Also writer / director 1981 Strong Medicine 1982 Eating Raoul Mr. Leech 1987 Aria Preston (segment "Rigoletto") 1989 Rude Awakening Lloyd Stool 1990 Tune in Tomorrow Father Serafim 1991 Defending Your Life Dick Stanley 1991 The Linguini Incident Cecil 1991 Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space The Priest 1992 The Player Himself 1992 The Lounge People Lewis Louis 1993 Short Cuts Gordon Johnson 1993 Even Cowgirls Get the Blues Dr. Dreyfus 1993 Grumpy Old Men Snyder 1995 To Die For H. Finlaysson Also writer 1997 The Real Blonde Dr. Leuter 1998 1999 Mr. Goldman 1998 I'm Losing You Phillip Dagrom 1998 Curtain Call Charles Van Allsburg 1998 The Man Who Counted George Postlewait Short 1999 Breakfast of Champions Fred T. Barry 2000 Lisa Picard is Famous Himself 2001 Town & Country Suttler Also writer 2001 Serendipity Himself Uncredited 2004 The Last Shot Lonnie Bosco 2011 A Bird of the Air Duncan Weber 2013 Streetcar Sheriff Short 2015 Kiss Kiss Fingerbang Cat Owner Short
Television Source: IMDb
Year Title Role Notes 1961 The New Steve Allen Show Regular 5 episodes 1964–1965 That Was the Week That Was Himself 2 episodes 1975 The Owl and the Pussycat Felix Sherman TV pilot 1976–1989 Saturday Night Live Host / Himself 17 episodes 1976 That Was the Year That Was – 1976 News Reporter TV movie 1978 Quark Dignitary Uncredited, 1 episode 1984 The New Show Regular 9 episodes 1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Walter Lang 1 episode 1987–1988 Falcon Crest Foster Glenn 3 episodes 1989 Murphy Brown Victor Rudman Episode: "My Dinner With Einstein" 1989 Trying Times Man on TV 1 episode 1992 Keep the Change Smitty TV movie 1992 Tales from the Crypt George 1 episode 1992 Eek! The Cat Cupid Voice, 1 episode 1992 Mastergate Clay Fielder TV movie 1995 Harrison Bergeron TV Producer TV movie 1999 Dilbert Dadbert Voice, 1 episode 2005 Will & Grace Leonard 1 episode 2007 The Daily Show Contributor 2 episodes 2007–2010 30 Rock Dick Lemon 2 episodes 2011 Hot in Cleveland Fred 3 episodes 2012 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Mr. Morton 1 episode 2012 Casting By Himself Documentary, HBO 2013 Franklin & Bash Judge Henry Dinsdale 2 episodes 2013 Mel Brooks: Make A Noise Himself Documentary, PBS
Writing credits Film Source: Turner Classic Movies The Troublemaker (1964) (with Theodore J. Flicker) The Graduate (1967) (with Calder Willingham) Candy (1968) Catch-22 (1970) The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) Is There Sex After Death? (1971) (Uncredited) What's Up, Doc? (1972) (with Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Benton and David Newman) The Day of the Dolphin (1973) Heaven Can Wait (1978) First Family (1980) Protocol (1984) To Die For (1995) Town & Country (2001) The Humbling (2014) (with Michal Zebede)
Television That Was the Week That Was (1964) (3 episodes) Captain Nice (1967) (2 episodes) (creator) Get Smart (1965–1970) (co-creator)