BH

Buck Henry has died.  A well-liked figure in show biz, he accomplished quite a bit as a writer, actor and director without being too much on the radar.

He worked in comedy in his early years, including improv.  He became a successful TV writer in the 1960s, creating, with Mel Brooks, Get Smart.  Then, when director Mike Nichols needed someone to adapt the novel The Graduate, he found Henry to be on the same wavelength.  The movie version in 1967 went on to become one of the biggest hits of all time, and Henry got an Oscar nomination. (He also appeared in the film as a hotel clerk.) Henry continued to work with Nichols, writing, and appearing in, Catch-22 and The Day Of The Dolphin.

In the 1970s, he became best known as an actor for his appearances on Saturday Night Live, which he hosted ten times in its early run with the original cast.  The show liked him so much they generally chose him to host the final episode of the season.  He created a number of characters, the most famous being Uncle Roy, the pedophile babysitter. (Would they still do that sketch today?)

He also enjoyed one of his greatest triumphs in Heaven Can Wait (1978), the hit comedy he co-directed and co-starred in with Warren Beatty.  He got another Oscar nomination for his direction. (He wrote another Beatty film years later in 2001, Town & Country, but it was a major flop.)

He wrote less and acted more in later years, but still managed to knock out some quality work, such as his script for To Die For in 1995.  Meanwhile, he popped up in numerous TV shows and movies. One memorable--if short--bit was in Robert Altman's Hollywood film The Player (1992).  Henry plays himself, pitching a sequel to The Graduate, where Mrs. Robinson has had a stroke.

Buck Henry came across as an unassuming guy (and I've heard was like that in real life), but his dry wit had quite an effect on comedy over the past fifty years or so.