Buck Henry, Get Smart co-creator who hosted SNL 10 times in its first five seasons, dies at 89

Deadline

The legendary screenwriter died of a heart attack Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 89. Before earning an Oscar nomination for co-writing The Graduate's iconic screenplay, Henry along with Mel Brooks co-created the secret agent comedy Get Smart, which aired for five seasons, from 1965 to 1970, on NBC and CBS. Henry was also the first member of Saturday Night Live's Five Timers Club. He hosted SNL 10 times: twice a season in each of the first five seasons, including the finales of Seasons 2, 3, 4 and 5. (Steve Martin broke Henry's hosting record when he hosted SNL for the 11th time in the 1988-89 season.) Henry regularly appeared as John Belushi's foil in SNL's "Samurai" skits, including one in which his forehead was cut by Belushi's samurai sword live on air. He also played pedophilic babysitter Uncle Roy and impersonated Charles Lindbergh and John Dean. Henry got his start writing for Steve Allen and Garry Moore’s TV shows in the early 1960s. He also regularly appeared in guest TV roles, most notably playing Liz Lemon's 30 Rock dad Dick Lemon. He also guest-starred on Will & Grace, Hot in Cleveland and Franklin & Bash. Former SNL writer Alan Zweibel was among the many paying tribute to Henry. "R.I.P. my dear friend and mentor Buck Henry," Zweibel tweeted. "My world will be missing a huge source of laughter that I will try my best to fill with so many memories.  Oh my...this is a going to be a tough one."