Henry was born in New York City as Henry Zuckerman. His mother was Ruth Taylor (January 13, 1905 – April 12, 1984), a silent film actress, star of the original version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and his father was Paul Steinberg Zuckerman (April 15, 1899 – December 3, 1965), an Air Force brigadier general and stockbroker.[2][3][4] 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.[1] Henry was from a Jewish background.[5]
Following graduation, he enlisted in the Army during the Korean War. He served in West Germany first as a helicopter mechanic[7] and then transferred to Special Services, where he toured with the Seventh Army Repertory Company, performing in a play he both wrote and directed.[6]
Career
Acting and writing
Henry joined the improvisational comedy group the Premise, whose ranks included George Segal and Theodore J. Flicker,[7] performing in the West Village in Manhattan. This helped lead him into a television career.[6]
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,[8] who presented his point of view on talk shows.[9] 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.[10][11]
He was a co-creator and writer for the secret agent comedy television series Get Smart (1965–1970), with comedian Mel Brooks.[6] The show lasted for five seasons and 138 episodes and won numerous Emmy Awards. Two TV projects created by Henry had short runs: Captain Nice (1967) with William Daniels as a reluctant superhero, and Quark (1978), with Richard Benjamin in command of a garbage scow in outer space.[1]
Henry shared an Oscar nomination with Calder Willingham for their screenplay for The Graduate (1967), in which he also appeared in a supporting role as a hotel concierge. Henry's cameo in The Player (1992) had him (playing himself) pitching a 25-years-later sequel to The Graduate, which Henry later claimed led to real-life interest in such a project from some studios.[12]
Later in his career, Henry became known for guest-starring and recurring roles on television. He appeared in an episode of Murphy Brown ("My Dinner With Einstein", 1989) as Dr. Victor Rudman, a fractal scientist who dated Murphy. He appeared on the television show Will & Grace in 2005.[15] In 2007, he made two guest appearances on The Daily Show as a contributor, billed as the show's "Senior Senior Correspondent".[citation needed] 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).[1] In 2011, he appeared in a multi-episode arc of Hot in Cleveland as Elka's groom.[1]
His Broadway credits included the 2002 revival of Morning's at Seven. Off-Broadway in July 2009, he starred opposite Holland Taylor in Mother, a play by Lisa Ebersole.[16]
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.[1] It became a tradition during these years for Henry to host the final show of each season, beginning with the 1976–1977 season. Henry's frequent host record was broken when Steve Martin made his 11th appearance as host of the show on the finale episode of the 1988–1989 season.[17] During the episode of October 30, 1976, Henry was injured in the forehead by John Belushi's katana in the samurai sketch.[1] Henry's head began to bleed and he was forced to wear a large bandage on his forehead for the rest of the show. As a gag, the members of the SNL cast each wore a bandage on their foreheads as well.
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