Milwaukee native Tom Snyder, a television pioneer who gained fame for his late-night interviews on NBC's "The Tomorrow Show," died Sunday after a long struggle with leukemia. He was 71.
Snyder was born May 12, 1936 in Milwaukee, graduated from Marquette High School and Marquette University and began his broadcast career with radio station WRIT in the early 1960s. He then moved into local television news in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before taking over the late-night show that followed "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson in 1972.
Snyder smoked heavily during the show, a practice which would be unheard of today, and his interviews with newsmakers were framed by smoke. Dan Aykroyd poked fun at Snyder with an impression on "Saturday Night Live."
After several years out of the spotlight, Snyder returned to late-night TV in 1995, when he took over "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder," which followed David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS. Snyder did that show until 1998, when Craig Kilborn left ESPN to take over the show.
