Buck Henry

After limited success as a stage actor, Buck Henry established himself as a sketch writer and performer in 1960s TV. He wrote comedy material for Garry Moore and Steve Allen before landing a regular post in 1961 as a writer-performer on the final season of "The Steve Allen Show" on NBC. Henry further honed his skills writing and acting on "That Was the Week That Was" (NBC, 1964-65), a pioneering live NYC-based political satire series derived from the acclaimed British original. He made what may well be his most lasting contribution to pop culture as the co-creator (with Mel Brooks) and Emmy award-winning writer of "Get Smart" (NBC 1965-69; CBS 1969-70). Henry also served two years (1965-67) as the story editor of this hugely successful takeoff of 60s James Bond mania. Broad parody would remain Henry's preferred form of TV--superheroes with "Captain Nice" (NBC, 1967), the Robin Hood mythos (again in collaboration with Brooks) in "When Things Were Rotten" (ABC, 1975) and sci-fi with "Quark" (NBC, 1978)--but his early success in the medium was not duplicated.

Henry first ventured into films co-writing (with Theodore J. Flicker) the story and screenplay for "The Troublemaker" (1964), a quirky, independently produced little comedy in which he also acted with members of The Premise, a NYC improvisational theater group which he had joined in 1960. After the success of "Get Smart", he returned to features as the co-scripter (with Calder Willingham) of Mike Nichols' "The Graduate" (1967), a major hit and one of the signature films of the decade. Suddenly on the A-list of Hollywood screenwriters, Henry went on to collaborate on some of the more popular, influential and/or notorious films of the late 60s and early 70s including Nichols' "Catch-22" (1970) and the Barbra Streisand vehicles "The Owl and the Pussycat" (1970) and "What's Up, Doc?" (1972). His assignments tended to be hip adaptations of popular plays and countercultural novels that skewered middle American values. His last major hit was the amiable 1978 remake "Heaven Can Wait" (based on 1941's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan") which, ironically, he co-directed and co-produced with Warren Beatty but did not script.

Henry's writing has declined drastically since the late 70s, both in quantity and, in the view of most critics, in quality. His first credit as the sole writer and director of a feature was "First Family" (1980), a poorly received satire of Presidential politics. Four years passed before Henry's next screenplay, "Protocol" (1984), a disappointing Goldie Hawn vehicle with Capra-esque aspirations. While his screenwriting career waned, his career as a character actor thrived. With his slight physique, thinning hair and generally bookish appearance, Henry was no one's idea of a matinee idol but he gained increased visibility on film and TV nonetheless. He benefited greatly from the young following he gained as a favored frequent guest host on "Saturday Night Live" since its 1975 inception. Henry's film roles include the fastidious and sympathetic Mr. Farnsworth who meets an unfortunate fate in Nicolas Roeg's "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976), a nervous accountant on the outs with the mob in John Cassavetes' "Gloria" (1980) and the kindly priest who runs the mission at the local leper colony in "Tune in Tomorrow" (1990). He appeared as himself in Robert Altman's "The Player" (1992), pitching a sequel to "The Graduate", and gave a brief amusing turn as a dedicated weekend fisherman in the director's "Short Cuts" (1993).

Henry made a triumphant return to screenwriting with a well-received adaptation of Joyce Maynard's novel, "To Die For" (1995), a hard-edged satire on the nature of American celebrity headlined by Nicole Kidman and directed by Gus Van Sant Jr.

• Also Credited As:
  Buck Henry Zuckerman
• Born:
  December 9, 1930 in New York City, New York, USA
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Screenwriter, Director

Family

• Father: Paul Zuckerman.
• Mother: Ruth Taylor. began as a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty in comedy shorts; later played Lorelei Lee in the first screen adaptation of Anita Loos Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928)

Education

• Choate School, Wallingford, Connecticut

Milestones

• 1947 Broadway acting debut at age 16 in a minor role in Life with Father
• 1948 Acted in the touring company of Life with Father
• 1952 Served in the US Army; during the Korean conflict toured Germany with the Seventh Army Repertory Company in a musical comedy that he wrote, directed and starred in
• 1954 Returned to civilian life
• 1960 Joined the Off-Broadway improvisational theater company The Premise
• 1960 Moved to Hollywood (date approximate)
• 1961 Became a regular performer on the final season of The Steve Allen Show
• 1964 Feature debut, co-wrote story, co-scripted (with director Theodore J Flicker) and acted in The Troublemaker
• 1966 Co-scripted the ABC special The World of Mike Nichols
• 1967 Breakthrough screenwriting credit, co-scripted (with Calder Willingham) The Graduate ; first collaboration with director Mike Nichols; garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay Adaptation
• 1967 TV producing debut, executive produced, created and wrote episodes of Captain Nice , an NBC superhero spoof
• 1975 Reteamed with Mel Brooks to create When Things Were Rotten , a short-lived spoof of Robin Hood on ABC
• 1976 Hosted and wrote for That Was the Year That Was , an NBC special that satirically reviewed 1976
• 1978 Created Quark , a short-lived sci-fi spoof starring Richard Benjamin on NBC
• 1978 Debut as film director and producer with Heaven Can Wait (with Warren Beatty); received an Oscar nomination for Best Direction
• 1980 First feature credit as sole screenwriter and sole director, First Family
• 1980 Received a from characters credit on The Nude Bomb , a feature version of Get Smart!
• 1984 Become a writer and cast member of The New Show , producer Lorne Michaels failed attempt to create a Saturday Night Live -like show for primetime
• 1985 Wrote and acted in Wake Me When I m Dead , an episode of the 1985-1986 revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
• 1987 Last screenwriting credit for eight years, I Love N.Y.
• 1987 Served as a rotating host on The Late Show , a late night talk show (and the first series produced for Fox)
• 1991 Served as Master of Ceremonies for the 10th Annual Independent Spirit Awards
• 1992 Appeared in a cameo role as himself in Robert Altman s The Player
• 1993 Acted in Altman s Short Cuts ; also featured in Grumpy Old Men
• 1994 Had a role in Gus Van Sant s misfire Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
• 1995 Wrote the screenplay for Van Sant s To Die For ; acted in a supporting role
• 1997 Featured in The Real Blonde
• 1999 Acted in the independent features I m Losing You and Breakfast of Champions
• 1999 Starred on Broadway in Art
• 1999 Voiced the character of Dadbert on an episode of the UPN animated series Dilbert
• 2000 Featured in Griffin Dunne s Famous ; screened at Cannes
• 2001 Was screenwriter of the comedy Town & Country , starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton as a couple with a troubled marriage
• 2004 Cast opposite Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin in the comedy The Last Shot
• Acted in the national company of No Time for Sergeants
• Appeared as a correspondent on Edge , a monthly magazine series covering American pop culture on PBS
• Appeared as a recurring character on three episodes of Falcon Crest , the popular primetime soap
• Began writing comedy material for The Steve Allen Show and The Garry Moore Show
• Breakthrough TV credit, co-created (with Mel Brooks), scripted episodes and served two years (1965-67) as story editor on Get Smart! , the extremely popular spy spoof series
• With a friend, posed as co-founder of The Society for Indecency to Naked Animals (SINA), a fictional organization that linked animal nudity to the moral decay of Western civilization; appeared on various talkshows to discuss the matter; admitted to the hoax when the organization began gaining in popularity
• Wrote for and appeared as a regular on That Was the Week That Was , a well-received American version of the classic British political satire series