Tom Snyder

[tugmoose]

Tom Snyder of `Tomorrow Show' Dies at 71

Jul 30 12:10 PM US/Eastern

 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late-night television, 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 Aykroyd 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.

[jimmyjimmy]

Always liked this guy. A little abrasive but really pretty cool. I think U2s first North American TV appearance was on this show; (certainly the first time I ever saw them was there). Think they played "Electric Co." There was also a great interview /segment with the Clash.

 

 

EDIT:

[dixiecupdrinker]

There is a pretty cool DVD set called "The Tomorrow Show - Punk & New Wave" that features Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, the Plasmatics, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Joan Jett, and John Lydon. It shows Wendy O. Williams blowing up a car, too.

 

dcd

[Basil II]

No one in late night has touched Tom.........now or since..........where's the F'ing box set???

 

 

 

-Robert.

[tongue-tied lightning]

he also interviewed The Clash

[Analogman]

The Grateful Dead on The Tomorrow Show.

The Clash on The Tomorrow Show

 

All the rest.

[M. (hristine]

I always think of Danny Ackroyd's impression of Tom Snyder as actually being Tom Snyder. In fact when I read his age, for a split second I thought, "Dan Ackroyd can't possibly be that old".

[Lammycat]

The Grateful Dead on The Tomorrow Show.

Weird. I checked that out from the library just last week and watched it 3-4 times. Pretty decent interview even with all the obvious drug questions and goofiness. Kesey and Garcia riffing off each other throughout was fun to watch. All members of the band were part of the interview at some point, except for Brent and Phil for some reason. The Dead played very well, too, and I think it helped expose people to the musicianship, skill level, and quality of the tunes by having the Dead do all acoustic selections for the show.

 

The rest of the dvd contains interviews with Tom Wolfe and Tim Leary.