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Late-Night Icon Tom Snyder Dead at 71

'Tomorrow Show' host's conversational style enchanted insomniacs

By Heather McPherson, Newser User

Posted Jul 30, 2007 12:24 PM CDT

(Newser) – Talk show host Tom Snyder, known for his interviews with celebrities like John Lennon and Johnny Rotten, died yesterday after battling leukemia for 2 years, the AP reports. The man who paved the way for David Letterman and Conan O'Brien as the host of NBC's "Tomorrow Show" and gained immortality through Dan Aykroyd's dead-on "Saturday Night Live" impersonation was 71.

Snyder began his career in the 1960s as a radio reporter in Milwaukee. He then switched to local television, anchoring newscasts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, before taking on late night in 1972. His best-known catch phrase was, "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

This is an undated picture provided by CBS of talk show host Tom Snyder. Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late night television, has died after a struggle with leukemia. He was 71.... (Associated Press)

Talk show host Tom Snyder is seen in this March 1993 picture. Snyder, whose smoke-filled interviews were a staple of late night television, died Sunday, July 29, 2007 in San Francisco from complications... (Associated Press)

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Late-Night Icon Tom Snyder Dead at 71