Buck Henry, “Graduate” Screenwriter who co-created “Get Smart,” dies at 89

Buck Henry, a comedian who created the satirical spy sitcom “Get Smart” with Mel Brooks, was a frequent early host of “Saturday Night Live” and turned “plastics” into a countercultural catchword with his Oscar-nominated screenplay for “The Graduate,” died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on January 8, 2020, at age 89. The cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Irene Ramp.

Henry was nominated for an Oscar again in 1979 for co-directing “Heaven Can Wait” with Warren Beatty.

Prior to his work in film, Henry worked on a number of television shows in the 1960s, including co-creating the parody series “Get Smart” with Mel Brooks. Henry also hosted “Saturday Night Live” several times in the late 1970s.

His long career began on television with work on shows with Steve Allen in The New Steve Allen Show (1961). He went on to co-create Get Smart (1965-1970) with Mel Brooks, and hosted Saturday Night Live 10 times from 1976 to 1980. He later guest-starred in shows such as Murphy Brown, Will & Grace, and 30 Rock.

Henry was born Henry Zuckerman to a Jewish family in New York City. His mother was Ruth Taylor (January 13, 1905 – April 12, 1984), a silent film actress and star of the original version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, while his father was Paul Steinberg Zuckerman (April 15, 1899 – December 3, 1965), an Air Force brigadier general and stockbroker. Though he 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, then all-boys (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 university humor magazine, the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, and met movie director Bob Rafelson.

Following graduation, he enlisted in the Army during the Korean War. Instead of engaging in combat, however, he served in West Germany first as a helicopter mechanic then he transferred to Special Services where he toured with the Seventh Army Repertory Company, performing in a play he 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. 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 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 noted comedian Mel Brooks. The show lasted for five seasons and 138 episodes and won numerous Emmy Awards. Two TV projects created by Henry that had short runs 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.

Henry shared an Oscar nomination with Calder Willingham for their screenplay for the iconic comedy The Graduate (1967), in which he also appeared in a supporting role as a hotel concierge. Henry’s cameo in The Player (1992) had him (playing himself) pitching a 20-years-later sequel to the film, which Henry later claimed led to real-life interest in such a project from some studios.

His many other writing credits included the sex farce Candy (1968), the acclaimed 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, Henry 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 1978 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.

Later in his career, Henry became known for guest-starring and recurring roles on television. He appeared in the 1989 “My Dinner With Einstein” episode of Murphy Brown 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 10 times between 1976 and 1980, making him the show’s most frequent host during its initial five-year run, thus setting a record that held for nearly a decade. This figure does not include the show’s second-season Mardi Gras special, for which he was not in fact credited as host, but rather as one of several guest comedy and musical performers. Because he was featured more prominently than any of the other comedy performers who guested on the special episode (which was broadcast live from within the midst of Mardi Gras events in New Orleans), he is sometimes erroneously considered to have been the host of the program. (This role could be more accurately described as having been filled by musical performer Randy Newman).
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 would be broken when Steve Martin made his 11th appearance as host of the show on the finale episode of the 1988-1989 season. During the October 30, 1976, episode, Buck 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 SNLL

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 to Samurai Futaba’s (John Belushi) many businesses. Uncle Roy, a single, pedophilic babysitter. The two skits, written by Rosie Shuster and Anne Beatts, remain controversial.