Buck Henry
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| Buck Henry | |||||||
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| Born | Buck Henry Zuckerman December 9, 1930 New York City, New York, USA |
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Buck Henry Zuckerman (born December 9, 1930) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, writer and director, known for his work in television, film, comedy, and satire.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Henry was born in New York City, the son of silent film actress Ruth Taylor and Paul S. Zuckerman, a former air force general and stockbroker.[1][2] He went to boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall and graduated from Dartmouth College, where he worked on the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine. He soon cultivated a flair for deadpan humor, saying the most nonsensical things with utter conviction. From 1959 to 1962, as part of an elaborate hoax by comedian Alan Abel, he pretended to be G. Clifford Prout, president of the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals. Henry, as the quietly outraged Mr. Prout, presented his point of view on talk shows.
[edit] Television career
Henry's dry humor attracted attention in the entertainment community. He became a cast member on TV programs such as The New Steve Allen Show (1961) and That Was The Week That Was (1964-65). He was a co-creator and writer for Get Smart (1965-70), with Mel Brooks. Two of his TV projects had short runs but are fondly remembered by fans: 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.
He recently appeared on the television show Will and Grace (2005). As of August 8th 2007, he is a Daily Show contributor. He also appeared on the December 13th, 2007 30 Rock episode "Ludachristmas."
[edit] Saturday Night Live
From 1976 to 1980, he hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live 10 times (it became a tradition that he hosted the last show of the year, as he was considered one of the easiest hosts to work with). Henry also hosted the only live remote attempted by SNL, broadcast live from Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
On 10/30/1976, Buck Henry was injured in the forehead by John Belushi's katana in the Saturday Night Live Samurai sketch. Henry's head began to bleed and was forced to wear a large bandage on his forehead for the rest of the show. As a gag, the SNL cast each wore a bandage on their forehead.
[edit] Recurring characters on SNL
- Howard, a sadistic stunt coordinator
- Marshall DiLaMuca, one of the Nerds
- Mr. Dantley, the straight man and frequent customer to Samurai Futaba's (John Belushi) many businesses.
- Uncle Roy, a single, pedophilic babysitter who disguises his attempts at molesting his charges (played by Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman) as games.
[edit] Celebrity impersonations on SNL
[edit] The Daily Show
On August 8, 2007, Henry appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about the acquisition of the Wall Street Journal by Rupert Murdoch. The name of his segment was "The Henry Stops Here", humorously used in place of the more obvious choice "the buck stops here". He reappeared on the show on September 24, 2007, where he attempted to explain why Iowa and New Hampshire have the first primaries.
[edit] Film and stage career
Henry has appeared in more than 40 films including Catch-22 (1970), Taking Off (1971), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Gloria (1980), Eating Raoul (1982), Aria (1988), Tune In Tomorrow (1990), Defending Your Life (1991), The Player (1992), and Grumpy Old Men (1993). He co-directed Heaven Can Wait, the 1978 remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and appeared in the film as an officious angel, reprising the character originally played by Edward Everett Horton.
His many writing credits include Candy (1968, adaptation), The Owl and the Pussycat (1970, adaptation), What's Up, Doc? (1972), The Day of the Dolphin (1973, adaptation, with a role as the voice of the dolphin), Protocol (1984), and To Die For (1995, adaptation, with a role as the high school teacher). He shared an Oscar nomination for his screenplay, The Graduate (1967, adaptation), a film in which he made a cameo appearance.
His Broadway credits include the 2002 revival of Morning's at Seven.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Buck Henry at the Internet Movie Database
- Buck Henry at TV.com
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