Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; Though the young Zuckerman was nicknamed 'Buck' from childhood, he did not officially change his name to Buck Henry until the 1970s; both his birth name and nickname came from his grandfather. and then transferred to Special Services, where he toured with the Seventh Army Repertory Company, performing in a play he both wrote and directed.
From 1959 to 1962, as part of an elaborate hoax by comedian Alan Abel, he made public appearances as G. Clifford Prout, the quietly outraged president of the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, who presented his point of view on talk shows. The character of Prout wished to clothe all animals in order to prevent their 'indecency', using slogans such as "A nude horse is a rude horse". Henry played the character with deadpan sincerity. He was often presented as an eccentric, but was otherwise taken seriously by the broadcasters who interviewed him. "Prout" received many letters of support from TV viewers, and even some unsolicited monetary donations, all of which were invariably returned, as neither Henry nor Abel (who had no intention of following through on the Society's stated aims) wanted to be accused of raising money fraudulently.
Henry became a cast member on The New Steve Allen Show (1961) and the US version of That Was the Week That Was (1964–1965).
His many other screen writing credits included the sex farce Candy (1968), the romantic comedies The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) and What's Up, Doc? (1972), the satire Catch-22 (1970), the thriller The Day of the Dolphin (1973), the comedy Protocol (1984), and the dark crime dramedy To Die For (1995). the remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, with the movie's star Warren Beatty and appeared in the film as an officious angel, reprising the character originally played by Edward Everett Horton. Henry received a second shared Oscar nomination, this time for Best Director. In 2007, he made two guest appearances on The Daily Show as a contributor, billed as the show's "Senior Senior Correspondent". He has also appeared as Liz Lemon's father, Dick Lemon, in the 30 Rock episodes "Ludachristmas" (December 13, 2007) and "Gentleman's Intermission" (November 4, 2010).
Saturday Night Live
Henry hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live ten times between 1976 and 1980, making him the show's most frequent host during its initial five-year run and on November 19, 1977, Henry became the first to host five times. During the episode of October 30, 1976, Henry was injured in the forehead by John Belushi's katana in the samurai sketch.
- Marshall DiLaMuca, father of Bill Murray's character Todd in The Nerds sketches.
- Mr. Dantley, the straight man and frequent customer of Samurai Futaba's (John Belushi) many businesses.
- Uncle Roy, a single, pedophilic babysitter. The three sketches, written by Rosie Shuster and Anne Beatts, remain controversial.
Celebrity impersonations on SNL
- Charles Lindbergh
- John Dean
- Ron Nessen
Death
Henry died of a heart attack at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on January 8, 2020, at age 89.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1961
| The New Steve Allen Show
| Regular
| 5 episodes
|-
| 1964–1965
| That Was the Week That Was
| Himself
| 2 episodes
|-
| 1975
| The Owl and the Pussycat
| Felix Sherman
| TV pilot
|-
| 1976–1989
| Saturday Night Live
| Host / Himself
| 17 episodes
|-
| 1976
| That Was the Year That Was – 1976
| News Reporter
| TV movie
|-
| 1978
| Quark
| Dignitary
| Uncredited, 1 episode
|-
| 1984
| The New Show
| Regular
| 9 episodes
|-
| 1985
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents
| Walter Lang
| 1 episode
|-
| 1987–1988
| Falcon Crest
| Foster Glenn
| 3 episodes
|-
| 1989
| Murphy Brown
| Victor Rudman
| Episode: "My Dinner With Einstein"
|-
| 1989
| Trying Times
| Man on TV
| 1 episode
|-
| 1992
| Keep the Change
| Smitty
| TV movie
|-
| 1992
| Tales from the Crypt
| George
| 1 episode
|-
| 1992
| Eek! The Cat
| Cupid
| Voice, 1 episode
|-
| 1992
| Mastergate
| Clay Fielder
| TV movie
|-
| 1995
| Harrison Bergeron
| TV Producer
| TV movie
|-
| 1999
| Dilbert
| Dadbert
| Voice, 1 episode
|-
| 2005
| Will & Grace
| Leonard
| 1 episode
|-
| 2007
| The Daily Show
| Contributor
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2007–2010
| 30 Rock
| Dick Lemon
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2011
| Hot in Cleveland
| Fred
| 3 episodes
|-
| 2012
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
| Mr. Morton
| 1 episode
|-
| 2012 || Casting By || Himself || Documentary, HBO
|-
| 2013
| Franklin & Bash
| Judge Henry Dinsdale
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2013
| Mel Brooks: Make A Noise
| Himself
| Documentary, PBS
|}
Writing credits
Film
Source: Turner Classic Movies
|-
|1968 || Writers Guild of America Awards || Best Written American Comedy ||
|-
|1969 || British Academy Film Awards || Best Screenplay ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1971 || rowspan=3|Writers Guild of America Awards || Best Adapted Drama Film || Catch-22 ||
|-
|Best Adapted Comedy Film || The Owl and the Pussycat ||
|-
|1973 || Best Original Comedy || What's Up, Doc? ||
|-
|1979 || Directors Guild of America Award || Outstanding Direction – Film || Heaven Can Wait ||
|-
|1993 || Venice Film Festival || Special Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble || Short Cuts ||
|-
|}