Legendary talk show host Tom Snyder dies

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Tom Snyder, the legendary talk show host who most recently held the spot after David Letterman on CBS with The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, passed away at the age of 71 over the weekend. Tom Snyder passed away from complications due to leukemia on Sunday afternoon, as reported by Entertainment Tonight this morning. Tom Snyder is well-known for hosting NBC's The Tomorrow Show and CBS' The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder. The host passed away in San Francisco.


Tom Snyder rose to fame for hosting The Tomorrow Show, which was in the slot post The Tonight Show from 1973 to 1982, pre-David Letterman. According to Reuters, some of Tom Snyder's most memorable guests in that period included John Lennon, Charles Manson, and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. The tag line that Tom Snyder used for The Tomorrow Show was "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."


Tom Snyder came back to TV to host The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder from 1995 to 1999. Two years ago, Tom Snyder announced on his web site that he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia but he was told by his doctors that his condition was treatable and nothing to worry about. Sadly, that was not the case. Tom Snyder quit smoking about five years, but went to the doctor after complaining of night sweats, abdominal bloating, and a general lack of stamina. He was diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia and the disease, which can sometimes take years to become deadly, proved to be the end of the talk show legend.


Tom Snyder was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and went to Marquette University. He began his career as a radio reporter in the '60s in Milwaukee. After that, Tom Snyder bounced around TV news desks, working at KYW-TV in Philadelphia, WNBC in New York, and KNBC in Los Angeles. Highlights from The Tomorrow Show include the final televised interview with John Lennon, a rare interview with Ayn Rand, and U2's first American television appearance. Wendy O. Williams' legendary TV blow-up happened on the show, an event which disrupted a live broadcast of the NBC Nightly News being produced two floors above. Johnny Rotten's notoriously obnoxious interview with Tom Snyder became legendary. And then there was KISS. During a 25-minute interview in 1979, a drunk Ace Frehley and Tom Snyder went at it in hilarious fashion, proving that Snyder's success was largely due to his amazing ability to think quickly on his feet.


After The Tomorrow Show was cancelled to make way for David Letterman, Tom Snyder went back to being a news anchor for WABC-TV's Eyewitness News. He returned to the talk show format for KABC in Los Angeles in 1986, but Oprah Winfrey took over his time slot with her new show. In other words, Tom Snyder paved the way for David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey. David Letterman returned the favor, hiring Tom Snyder for The Late Late Show in 1995.


Tom Snyder had one child, Anne Mari Snyder, and two grandchildren. We send our condolences to his family and friends.