Tom Snyder, who helped broaden and define the parameters of late-night TV talk, died Sunday in San Francisco. He had been suffering from leukemia, which he announced on his Web site in 2005. He was 71.
The long and lanky Mr. Snyder, whose sonorous voice seemed to work its way up from his toes, was a bundle of intellectual curiosities and eccentricities that made him a favorite for impressionists and for Dan Aykroyd on “Saturday Night Live.”
The Milwaukee-born Mr. Snyder’s career started on radio. His work then took him from the middle of the TV day–he co-anchored the first noon newscast in the country in 1965 at KWY-TV in Philadelphia–to the middle of the night when he debuted on “The Tomorrow Show” after “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” on NBC. At that time he could and did smoke on the air.
Color TV was still a bit of novelty then, as was Mr. Snyder’s show-opening suggestion to viewers that they should "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
“Tomorrow” lasted for a decade that many considered to be almost all golden years. (There was a misbegotten attempt to pair him with gossip columnist Rona Barrett at the end.) The Snyder show was replaced on NBC by “Late Night With David Letterman.”
Mr. Snyder then spent several years back in local TV, on radio and CNBC. In 1995, Mr. Letterman, then at CBS with the right to create a show to follow his own, brought his broadcasting idol back to the daypart. Mr. Snyder found his greatest success with that vehicle, “The Late, Late Show.”
In a sign of the times in which watching pictures fly through the air was no longer a novelty, Mr. Snyder would be replaced three years later by the younger Craig Kilborn, who is known for a snarkier style on the air.
(Editor: Grego. Published 7:38 am. Last paragraph updated 11:50 am, 12:52 pm)
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Comments (14)
My condolences to his friends and family. Tom was one of my all-time favorite broadcasters. A true, genuine broadcaster. I was glad to have had the chance to see him not only in his Tomorrow format but also as anchor WNBC's NewsCenter 4 two-hour newscasts. He will be sorely missed.
Posted by Michael S. | July 30, 2007 11:13 AM
Tom was a great boss. I had the pleasure of working for him on "The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder". A flood of great memories have returned and I think of him with great affection. My best wishes to Ann. He was an original and we won't see the likes of him again. "ALRIGHT!"
Posted by Gary S | July 30, 2007 12:09 PM
No one who knows TV will ever forget the sound of Tom Snyder's "Good night, everybody."
Good night, Tom, from all of us not at NBC.
Posted by Joe T | July 30, 2007 1:41 PM
A chance encounter: years ago while walking back to my office at lunchtime in the East 50s in NYC, there was Tom throwing a frisbee. I yelled, hey Tom, give me a throw...he said, "alright sir", and we proceeded to toss it around for a while. Along with his considerable, obvious talents, the man could throw a frisbee, be spontaneous and have a good time. We'll see ya Tom in two minutes and five seconds...
Posted by Rich G | July 30, 2007 1:42 PM
I notice nobody is mentioning the years he anchored newscasts in L.A., but that's how I remember him.
Posted by Red Blanchard | July 30, 2007 1:44 PM
A HUGE loss for the broadcasting industry. At least now he's with Mother Snyder.
Posted by Tammy Ryan | July 30, 2007 3:46 PM
Parr, Carson and Snyder are all up in Heaven putting on one hell of a nighttime show. Thanks, Tom, for all your entertainment, interviews, news when you were at Channel 4 in both NY and LA, and especially those barbs at C(Cheap)NBC when it was struggling to find a voice. I loved when you would crack up your stage hands, cameramen and especially yourself. You were one terrific Communicator!
My condolences to Tom's family and Friends. Being off television for these few years has certainly been our loss.
Posted by mediamaven | July 30, 2007 4:19 PM
It was a great gift to work with him for 7 years, and to call him a good friend for 20 years. We will not see another like him because he was, and will always be, the best there ever was!
Posted by Debbie A | July 30, 2007 4:44 PM
The highlight of my college years was sneaking into NBC New York, putting my tush on a wooden stool in the back of old control room 3B, and watching Snyder wind his way through "Prime Time Sunday". Paul Friedman was the producer; George Paul was the director. An even bigger thrill was meeting the man - yes he truly was larger than life.
They just don't do talk shows like "Tomorrow" any more ... and as the old critic Ron Powers once wrote, no one but no one was a better local television news anchor. We in NY were lucky to get him on WNBC then WABC.
Tom Snyder success sprouted an imitator or two [Dan Akyroyd, Paul Moyer, etc.]
Pitchers of colortinis are on the house tonight.
Posted by Dave | July 30, 2007 7:26 PM
My wife worked with Tom, and he came over for Christmas Eve a few years in a row and always brought me a ridiculously huge box of paper champagne poppers as a running joke. Once when I started to put on some background music, Tom said in his beautifully resonant voice, "Don't do that on my behalf Malcolm, the crackle of the fire and a little conversation is all I need." He just really loved people and conversation, and that came through. He touched so many of us with his warmth, his wit, and his focused sincerity. He will be missed.
Posted by Malcolm O | July 30, 2007 7:41 PM
I worked with Tom in '78 on an NBC doc called "Medicine in America". We went late into several nights in Denver talking about life, love and happiness. Of course, he had his chess board and teddy bear with him. We became fast friends, and I'll always respect and admire Tom.
Posted by Joe Torina | July 31, 2007 2:39 AM
The "colortini" line was not from "The Tomorrow Show" era (many obits are mistakenly saying such). He used it on his cable run and on CBS.
He also referred to his latter shows as "colorcasts" (which begat the colortini line), referring to what NBC press releases called its late night shows in the 60s right thru the 80s. The network then changed the descriptor to "stereocasts" with the advent of stereo tv sound.
Posted by Carl LaFong | July 31, 2007 7:50 AM
Tom was great on TV, but my best memories of him will be when he was on the radio. I use to work at a little station in upstate NY. During the breaks he use to come on the mike and thank all of us board ops around the country for the job we did running his show. He also told us jokes and funny stories.
I would get off work at midnight and listen to the final hour on my 45 minute drive home. I think this was Tom's favorite hour too. Because there were no guests. He just talked with callers from around the country. I still remember him giving advice to a young teenage girl about not doing drugs. Another time he advised another caller to go get some help for his problem. But the light moments were the best. When he told stories about his family and his behind the scenes years in the business.
Plus he made everyone who called his show, including me a couple of time, he made them feel like you were one of his oldest and dearest friends. (FYI-To Debbie A who posted on the 31st of July-If you were the producer of his old radio show then I talked to you a few times.)
He will be missed !!!
Posted by JOE | August 2, 2007 3:31 AM
RIP TOM-I remember Tom while anchoring at WABC 7 Eyewitness News. He worked with the likes of Grimsby, Beutel,Anastos and Kaity Tong. All broadcast legends in New York City. I also remember him interviewing Charles Manson on the Tomorrow Show. RIP TOM...........Such a great broadcaster.
Posted by JOE B | August 9, 2007 7:15 AM