Broadcaster Tom Snyder dies at 71
Andy
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, July 30th 2007, 11:11 AM
SAN FRANCISCO - Talk show host Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled
interviews were a staple of late night television and an inspiration
for Dan Ackroyd on "Saturday Night Live", has died after a struggle
with leukemia. He was 71.
Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with
leukemia, his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz told The
Associated Press on Monday.
Known for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder
conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC's "The
Tomorrow Show." Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and
Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.
Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee in the 1960s,
then moved into local television news. He anchored newscasts in
Philadelphia and Los Angeles before moving to late night.
"He loved the broadcast business," said Marciarose Shestack, who
co-anchored a noontime newscast with Snyder at KYW-TV in Philadelphia
in the 1960s. "He was very surprising and very irreverent and not at
all a typical newscaster."
In 1972, Snyder left news to host "The Tomorrow Show," which followed
"The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.
His catch phrase for the show was: "Fire up a colortini, sit back,
relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around
him during interviews.
He gained more fame when Dan Ackroyd lampooned him in the early days
of Saturday Night Live.
In 1995, he returned to late night television as the host of "The Late
Late Show with Tom Snyder" on CBS. The program followed David
Letterman's "Late Show" until 1998, when Snyder was replaced by Craig
Kilborn.
Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic
lymphocytic leukemia.
"When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence," he wrote then. "Now,
my doctors say it's treatable!"
Horowicz met Snyder in 1982 and worked with him at WABC in New York
before producing the "Tom Snyder" television show.
"He was a great guy and very talented," Horowicz said.
tonyofdykerbeach
>Broadcaster Tom Snyder dies at 71
>
>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A true GIANT!