Late Night Talk Show Host Tom Snyder Dead At 71

Talk show host Tom Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews and robust laughter were a staple of late night television, has died after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71.

Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia, his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz told The Associated Press on Monday.

Known for his improvised, casual style, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC’s “The Tomorrow Show.” Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

“Tom was the very thing that all broadcasters long to be — compelling. Whether he was interviewing politicians, authors, actors or musicians, Tom was always the real reason to watch. I’m honored to have known him as a colleague and as a friend,” David Letterman said in a statement released to Access Hollywood.

Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee in the 1960s, then moved into local television news. He anchored newscasts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before moving to late night.

“He loved the broadcast business,” said Marciarose Shestack, who co-anchored a noontime newscast with Snyder at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the 1960s. “He was very surprising and very irreverent and not at all a typical newscaster.”

In 1972, Snyder left news to host “The Tomorrow Show,” which followed “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

His catch phrase for the show was: “Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air.” Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around him during interviews.

He gained more fame when Dan Aykroyd lampooned him in the early days of Saturday Night Live.

In 1995, he returned to late night television as the host of “The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder” on CBS. The program followed David Letterman’s “Late Show” until 1998, when Snyder was replaced by Craig Kilborn.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

“When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence,” he wrote then. “Now, my doctors say it’s treatable!”

Horowicz met Snyder in 1982 and worked with him at WABC in New York before producing the “Tom Snyder” television show.

“He was a great guy and very talented,” Horowicz said.

Snyder is survived by his daughter and longtime girlfriend, who live in the Bay Area.