Death pool 2007

[drusilla]

TOM TERRIFIC DEAD AT 71
TV ECCENTRIC WORKED THE FRINGES
By MICHAEL STARR


July 31, 2007 -- TOM Snyder, whose machine- gun laugh and colorful personality delighted late-night TV viewers, died Sunday in San Francisco.

Snyder, 71, had battled leukemia since 2005.

Snyder first shot to fame in 1973 when he began hosting the late-night talk show "Tomorrow," which aired on NBC directly after Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show."

Waving his ever-present lit cigarette for emphasis, Snyder quickly drew attention for his rat-a-tat interviewing style, his penetrating questions and his ability to corral interesting guests - including John Lennon, Charles Manson and Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten (twice).

Snyder's infectious laugh, exaggerated hand movements and dancing eyebrows were memorably lampooned by Dan Aykroyd on "Saturday Night Live" - one of Aykroyd's best-loved celebrity impersonations.

"He was a caring person and was hurt more easily than he let on, but he was able to laugh it off through his sense of humor," said The Amazing Kreskin, Snyder's good friend and frequent on-air guest for over 40 years.

When "Tomorrow" was cancelled in 1982 to make room for "Late Night with David Letterman," Snyder moved to ABC, where he briefly anchored Ch. 7's 11 p.m. newscast and hosted an ABC Radio show.

It was Letterman, ironically, who revived Snyder's TV career when he defected from NBC to CBS - and tapped Snyder, then on CNBC, to host "The Late Late Show," which aired after Letterman's "Late Show."

"Tom was the very thing that all broadcasters long to be - compelling," Letterman said in a statement. "I'm honored to have known him as a colleague and as a friend."

"Letterman was one of Tom's most frequent callers when he had his radio show," said Al Primo, who created the "Eyewitness News" format and brought Snyder to Philadelphia and then to Ch. 7.

"Dave would call and pretend to be someone else and they'd carry on a conversation," Primo said. "Tom was one of the greatest one-on-one communicators I've ever worked with."

Snyder hosted "Late Late Show" from 1995 to 1999, when he was replaced by Craig Kilborn.

"Tom was a true broadcaster, a rare thing," "The Late Late Show" executive producer Peter Lassally said in a statement.

"When he was on the air, he made the camera disappear. It was just you and him, in a room together, having a talk."

After leaving CBS, Snyder kept his fans abreast of his private life - including the death of his beloved sheepdog, Oliver - through his Web site.

"I spoke to him around six weeks ago, and he was telling me he couldn't get up and couldn't walk around," Primo said. "Last Thursday I spoke to his significant other, Pam, and she said, 'Al, he knows he's going, and he's ready to go.' "

Snyder started in the broadcast business as a radio reporter in Milwaukee before moving into local TV news.

"He had the great desire to work, to be on TV, to communicate with people," Primo said.

Snyder is survived by his daughter, Anne Mari Snyder, two grandchildren and his longtime girlfriend.

"You don't meet many people in this business that you really care about, but Tom was just a great guy and a good friend," Primo said.

CBS put out a statement summing up Snyder's legacy:

"He spoke to his viewers and they, in turn, felt as if they knew him personally.

"With his passing, television has lost a true broadcaster who always respected the medium and the audience it serves."