Buck Henry:1930-2020

Buck Henry died the other day, about a month after his 89th birthday.  Henry lived a great, long life, but I was still sad to hear that someone else who was part of the early years of Saturday Night Live was gone.  He hosted the show 10 times during the first five seasons.  That’s two more than Steve Martin, the 2nd most frequent host during that time.

In addition to hosting, Henry appeared as a special guest when "Anyone Can Host" contest winner Miskel Spillman hosted and also guest starred on SNL’s Mardi Gras special.  He also had 4 walk-on cameos, bringing his total appearances on the show to 16.

Buck Henry and Jane Curtin anchor"Weekend Update" live in New Orleans.

According to the book Saturday Night by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, the cast and crew of SNL loved working with Henry because he was “so unflappable” that he would “go along with just about anything” and that he was often thought of as “the show’s eighth cast member.”  Henry hosted the final episodes of seasons two through five because he was easy to work with and didn’t mind appearing in leftover sketches that were cut from earlier episodes.

SNL was my introduction to Henry.  It would be many years before I knew he had a career as a writer and occasional actor who co-created the TV series Get Smart and received Oscar nominations for The Graduate and Heaven Can Wait.

Henry appeared so frequently on the show that he had his own recurring characters, something few hosts accomplished.  He played Mr. Dantley, the straightman/victim to John Belushi’s Samurai.  While the “Samurai” sketches were always funny, they were at their best when Belushi interacted with Henry.

He also played Todd's father Marshall in the “Nerds” sketches and pedophile babysitter Uncle Roy.

Henry was later part of the cast of The New Show, a 1984 variety series created by Lorne Michaels.  I enjoyed the show and Henry's work on it during the series' brief run (it was cancelled after 9 episodes).

On a personal note, I remember watching Henry’s final hosting appearance like it was yesterday.  It was the last episode that featured what was left of the original cast, which made me very sad.  I felt a little better when Henry delivered a very funny monologue which introduced the (fake) new cast.  After that, I was able to enjoy the rest of the episode without feeling bad about the departure of the cast I loved.

Buck Henry at a 2017 screening of The Graduate.

Thank you Buck Henry for all the laughs you brought to me and to the world for so many years.  I send my deepest condolences to his friends and family.  RIP.