I remember three specific bits from “That Was The Week That Was” (1964). One of them was this, which I’ve posted here before.
Some pictures presented in fairly rapid succession. The timing made it funny.
Pres. Johnson. Buck Henry says, “LBJ”.
His wife “Lady Bird”. “LBJ”.
One daughter, Lynda Bird. “LBJ”.
The other daughter, Luci Baines. “LBJ”.
From his IMDb listing (assuming it’s accurate), I know that was either on November 24th or September 29th, 1964.
I first ran across him as the co-creator of Get Smart!, along with Mel Brooks (His name was prominently displayed against one of the many moving doors Maxwell Smart walked through during the opening credits).
Then I noticed his name on the writing credits for What’s Up, Doc! (one of my all-time favorite comedies.* ) and The Graduate and Catch-22. He also managed to get himself a brief role in each (I’m an after-credit reader, so I noticed; If I didn’t, Mad magazine’s parody of Catch-22 pointed out the fact.)
Then I saw him several times during the first couple of seasons of Saturday Night Live, which he hosted more than once.
After all that, he was difficult to miss when he popped up acting in something or as a writer.
I was last week years old when I found out about The Society for Indecency to Naked Animals which Buck Henry was president of, proving the humorlessness of conservatives isn’t a new thing at all, it is in fact older than I am. So long, Buck and thanks for the laughs.
If you’ve never seen TAKING OFF, go dig it up immediately. It’s a very funny satire of the counter-culture (and counter-counter-culture) with one of Henry’s best (and biggest) performances and also the first American film by Milos Forman (just a few years before Cuckoo’s Nest). Really terrific.