'Saturday Night Live' veteran and legendary writer-producer Buck Henry dies from heart attack at 89
Buck Henry, the renowned American comedy great, passed away following a heart attack. He was 89.
The writer worked on 'Saturday Night Live' and was also the creator of the famous spy comedy, 'Get Smart', according to Deadline. Henry was also the writer of 'The Graduate', the widely-acclaimed best-feature comedy film. In addition, he also wrote 'What's Up, Doc?' the comedy starring Ryan O'Neal alongside Barbra Streisand. His writing for 'Get Smart' fetched him an Emmy.
Henry had a rich career as a writer, producer and director spanning well over 50 years. He kickstarted his career with 'The New Steve Allen Show'. His 'Get Smart' was a subject of numerous relaunches and adaptations. His screenplay for 'The Graduate' had a quasi-official sequel for Jennifer Aniston's 'Rumor Has It...' and for 'Catch 22' the satire that Henry adapted is now a Hulu TV series.
Hollywood personalities took to Twitter to share their condolences. "R.I.P. Buck Henry - our most fearless screenwriter. Buck was also a big personality & a performer... he gave screenwriting a face. Growing up I could turn on Saturday Night LIve (which Buck hosted 10 times) and point to the funniest, smartest guy and say - that's a screenwriter," tweeted Larry Karaszewski, screenwriter of 'Dolemite is My Name' and 'The People vs. Larry Flynt'.
"Buck Henry went to my college and came back when I was a sophomore in 1995 and 8 of us got to go to lunch with him," wrote 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' writer/producer Christopher Miller. "I peppered him with questions the whole time and he was nice, even though in retrospect I was very annoying."
The distinguished veteran has had onscreen appearances as well. His film appearances include 'Franklin and Bash', 'Murphy Brown', and 'The Man who Fell to Earth'. He also hosted 'Saturday Night Live' and also appeared on 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson' and 'The Late Show With David Letterman'.
The site also added survivors include his wife, Irene, who was by his side when he died. He had no children.