Buck Henry

Buck Henry

Birth : 1930-12-09, New York City, New York, USA

Death : 2020-01-08

History

Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included, his work as a co-director on Heaven Can Wait (1978) alongside Warren Beatty, and his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's The Graduate (1967) and Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972). His long career began on television with work on shows with Steve Allen in The New Steve Allen Show (1961). He went on to co-create Get Smart (1965-1970) with Mel Brooks, and hosted Saturday Night Live 10 times from 1976 to 1980. He later guest starred in such popular shows as Murphy Brown, Hot in Cleveland, Will & Grace, and 30 Rock. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Graduate (1967) and for Best Director for Heaven Can Wait (1978) alongside Warren Beatty. Description above from the Wikipedia article Buck Henry, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Buck Henry
Buck Henry

Movies

Kiss Kiss Fingerbang
Cat Owner
A nice guy discovers his dark side when his girlfriend reveals her secret weakness.
The Humbling
Screenplay
Following a breakdown and suicide attempt, an aging actor becomes involved with a much younger woman but soon finds that it's difficult to keep pace with her.
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Self - Actor
The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.
A Fuller Life
Self - Reader (segment "The Pursuit of Happiness")
Friends and admirers of iconoclastic film director Sam Fuller read from his memoirs in this unconventional documentary directed by Fuller's only child, Samantha.
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Self
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise journeys through Brooks’ early years in the creative beginnings of live television — with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows — to the film genres he so successfully satirized in Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs — to the groundbreaking Broadway musical version of his first film, The Producers. The documentary also delves into his professional and personal ups and downs — his childhood, his first wife and subsequent 41-year marriage to Anne Bancroft — capturing a never-before-heard sense of reflection and confession.
Passion for Snow
Narrator
What do Daniel Webster, Dr. Seuss, C. Everett Koop, Robert Frost and 100+ Winter Olympians have in common? They all spent time at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH where winters are long and snowy. Passion for Snow traces over 100 years of ski history in the United States with a focus on the many contributions of Dartmouth College and its alumni to the formation, growth and ongoing innovations in all aspects of snowsports. Passion for Snow combines firsthand accounts from early ski pioneers, veterans of the 10th Mountain Division, Olympians, members of the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame and top ski industry and resort executives, who explain how the most remotely located college in the Ivy League helped spawn a $25 billion industry, and continues to shape it today.
Casting By
Self
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.
A Bird of the Air
Duncan Weber
A man in search of his past, and a woman who lives in the moment, are brought together when they pursue the origins of a stray parrot in this comedic and romantic drama.
It Came from Kuchar
Self
It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers. George and Mike Kuchar have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, "no budget" films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits.
Get Smart
Characters
When the identities of secret agents from Control are compromised, the Chief promotes hapless but eager analyst Maxwell Smart and teams him with stylish, capable Agent 99, the only spy whose cover remains intact. Can they work together to thwart the evil plans of KAOS and its crafty operative?
American Swing
Himself
Chronicles the rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat.
Students of 'The Graduate'
Self
This short documentary from 2007 features filmmakers, critics and historians discussing the cinematic achievement and ongoing influence of "The Graduate."
The Last Shot
Lonnie Bosco
A movie director-screenwriter finds a man to finance his latest project but soon discovers that the producer is actually an undercover FBI agent working on a mob sting operation.
Serendipity
Customer at Bloomingdales (uncredited)
Although strangers Sara and Jonathan are both already in relationships, they realize they have genuine chemistry after a chance encounter – but part company soon after. Years later, they each yearn to reunite, despite being destined for the altar. But to give true love a chance, they have to find one another again.
Town & Country
Suttler
Porter Stoddard is a well-known New York architect who is at a crossroads... a nexus where twists and turns lead to myriad missteps, some with his wife Ellie, others with longtime friends Mona and her husband Griffin. Deciding which direction to take often leads to unexpected encounters with hilarious consequences.
Town & Country
Writer
Porter Stoddard is a well-known New York architect who is at a crossroads... a nexus where twists and turns lead to myriad missteps, some with his wife Ellie, others with longtime friends Mona and her husband Griffin. Deciding which direction to take often leads to unexpected encounters with hilarious consequences.
Lisa Picard Is Famous
Buck Henry
A documentarian decides to follow the career of New York actress Lisa Picard, believing she is on the brink of fame. Instead, he bears witness to Lisa's continued, humorous, struggles as an actress, as well as the conflict that arises when Lisa's best friend Tate hits it big with an off-Broadway one-man show.
Breakfast of Champions
Fred T. Barry
An unhappy car dealer believes that a dime-store philosopher has the answers to life's important questions.
Curtain Call
Charles Van Allsburg
A bachelor afraid of marriage angers his long-time girlfriend by buying a splendid townhouse just for himself, only to find it haunted by the ghosts of a famous theatrical couple, who teach him about love and commitment.
The Real Blonde
Dr. Leuter
An aspiring actor and his girlfriend handle life's frustrations, while his friend seeks fulfillment with a blonde.
1999
Mr. Goldman
On New Year's Eve 1999, as a group of neurotic characters gather at a Greenwich Village apartment, everyone struggles to come to terms with their identities, relationships, and self-doubts before the millennium turns.
Playboy: The Story of X
Self - Host
The Story Of X takes you to the earliest days of adult films when men peddled stag reels and projectors out of the trunks of their cars, then through the movie house years to the arrival of the home video business, and now the Internet. Meet the men behind the camera, such as "King of Sexploitation" Dave Friedman and the preeminent breast man Russ Meyer. Considered pariahs at the time, they're now hailed as pioneers in the fight against censorship. The Story of X visits the 60s when women's rights, not nudity, became the issue and recounts porn's arrival in Hollywood, led by director Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris. In the 70s, several groundbreaking films, including Behind The Green Door featuring Marilyn Chambers and Deep Throat featuring Linda Lovelace, took the genre to a new level.
Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space
The Priest
William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", re-imagined in a child's vision of Hell. "Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space" is a festive yarn, comprised of the most homely and vulgar materials, while shamelessly thwarted buy the Bard's coarsest of jokes and grossest buffoonery.
To Die For
Mr. H. Finlaysson
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
To Die For
Screenplay
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
Harrison Bergeron
TV Producer
"All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.
Shotgun Freeway
self
Before "L.A. Confidential", there was "Shotgun Freeway" -- the groundbreaking 1995 documentary about Los Angeles coming to grips with it's own history. Against a backdrop of never-before-seen archival footage, Shotgun Freeway presents a diverse group of "Angelinos" who guide the film through their own past as well as the city's. We get crime scribe James Ellroy reliving his youth as a burglar, Actor/writer Buck Henry's tour of Hollywood fakery, Jazzman Buddy Collette's trip down Central Avenue, Historian Mike Davis' tour of LA's eventual Armageddon, and writer Joan Didion's take on LA's own ephemerality. From the Beaches to the Valley, "Shotgun Freeway" will show you a Los Angeles you never knew existed.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Dr. Dreyfus
Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age. She becomes a model in advertising and her NY agent 'the Countess' sends her to his ranch in CA to shoot a commercial, set against the background of mating whooping cranes. There, she befriends Bonanza Jellybean, one of the cowgirls at the beauty- ranch.
Grumpy Old Men
Snyder
For decades, next-door neighbors and former friends John and Max have feuded, trading insults and wicked pranks. When an attractive widow moves in nearby, their bad blood erupts into a high-stakes rivalry full of naughty jokes and adolescent hijinks.
Short Cuts
Gordon Johnson
Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot accidentally runs into a boy with her car. Soon after walking away, the child lapses into a coma. While at the hospital, the boy's grandfather tells his son, Howard, about his past affairs. Meanwhile, a baker starts harassing the family when they fail to pick up the boy's birthday cake.
Mastergate
Clay Fielder
A "play on words" about a fictional political scandal concerning covert arms deals and double-dealing government operatives, satirizing the Watergate hearings of 1972-1973.
Keep the Change
Smitty
A struggling artist visits his family on their Montana ranch and finds that his former flame, daughter of a family foe, is now married to an old friend.
The Player
Buck Henry
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?
The Lounge People
Lewis Louis
Louis and Cynthia Lewis are an insanely rich couple suffering from an acute case of boredom on their private island estate. Louis produces his own version of "Moby Dick" to end the tedium and to get his mind off his recently-discovered ill health; meanwhile, his wife and the three-person staff engage in several sexual escapades with each other.
'The Graduate' at 25
Self
A 1992 featurette on the making of "The Graduate."
The Linguini Incident
Cecil
A waitress, a barman and an underwear designer try to rob a New York restaurant where two of them work.
Defending Your Life
Dick Stanley
Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.
Tune in Tomorrow...
Father Serafim
Martin works at the local radio station, which just hired a new scriptwriter with a reputation for great drama, Pedro Carmichael. Martin’s aunt Julia, not related by blood, returns home after many years away and Martin falls for her. Once Pedro finds out about this romance, he starts incorporating details of it into the script of his daily drama series. Soon, Martin and Julia are not only hearing about their fictional selves over the radio, but about what they are going to do next.
Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary
Self
A TV special celebrating the 15th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. Before a celebrity audience, many of the former cast members and guest hosts return to perform their signature monologues and present a look back at some of the best comedy skits and musical numbers of the past 15 years.
Rude Awakening
Lloyd Stool
In the later 1960s, two hippies are forced to leave their friends as they are wanted by the FBI, who sees them as criminals. They hide in the jungle for 20 years, secluded from the outside world. In the later 1980s, the find out that a secret war is about to start in the US, and decide to return to New York to tell someone about it.
Aria
Preston
Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound (Vivaldi, Bach, Wagner), and is an interpretation of the particular aria.
The Best of John Belushi
Various characters
Protocol
Screenplay
A Washington waitress saves the Emir of Ohtar's life, launching her diplomatic career and a scandal.
Steve Martin: Homage to Steve
Himself
This video contains three segments: First, the Oscar-nominated short The absent-minded waiter (1977), then a fake interview with Steve Martin about his art (comedians-segment) and finally a full live performance from September 28, 1979, at the Universal Ampitheater
Eating Raoul
Mr. Leech
A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discover a bizarre, if not murderous way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
Strong Medicine
Adaptation of an avant-garde play about Rhoda, a hysterical heroine who feels oppressed by the people around her. She suffers through her birthday party, goes to see a doctor, plans a vacation, argues a lot and even breaks the fourth wall.
First Family
Writer
When the First Daughter is kidnapped by an African tribe, the President must do what he can to keep them from sacrificing her.
First Family
Director
When the First Daughter is kidnapped by an African tribe, the President must do what he can to keep them from sacrificing her.
First Family
Father Sandstone
When the First Daughter is kidnapped by an African tribe, the President must do what he can to keep them from sacrificing her.
Gloria
Jack Dawn
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.
Old Boyfriends
Art Kopple
When her marriage falls apart, a psychiatrist seeks out those of her former boyfriends who left the biggest impact on her life, mostly in a bad way.
Heaven Can Wait
The Escort
Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn't ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently-murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant—the murderers—are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl.
Heaven Can Wait
Director
Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn't ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently-murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant—the murderers—are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl.
The Absent-Minded Waiter
Bernie Cates
Bernie Cates requests the services of the most absent-minded waiter he's ever seen, who pours water before setting the glasses, endlessly repeats questions, brings wrong orders, and ruins everything- but the bill.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Oliver Farnsworth
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
The Day of the Dolphin
Man Standing Outside Women's Club (uncredited)
Dr. Jake Terrell, who has been training a pair of dolphins for many years, has had a breakthrough. He has taught his dolphins to speak and understand English, although they do have a limited vocabulary. When the dolphins are stolen, he discovers they're to be used in an assassination attempt. Now he is in a race to discover who is the target, and where the dolphins are, before the attempt is carried out.
The Day of the Dolphin
Screenplay
Dr. Jake Terrell, who has been training a pair of dolphins for many years, has had a breakthrough. He has taught his dolphins to speak and understand English, although they do have a limited vocabulary. When the dolphins are stolen, he discovers they're to be used in an assassination attempt. Now he is in a race to discover who is the target, and where the dolphins are, before the attempt is carried out.
What's Up, Doc?
Screenplay
The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.
Is There Sex After Death?
Dr. Louise Manos
Driving through New York City in his Sexmobile, Dr. Harrison Rogers of the Bureau of Sexological Investigation, searches out luminary figures in the world of sex.
Taking Off
Larry Tyne
Unable to deal with her parents, Jeannie Tyne runs away from home. Larry and Lynn Tyne search for her, and in the process meet other people whose children ran away. With their children gone, the parents are now free to rediscover/enjoy life.
I Miss Sonia Henie
Doctor
One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.
I Miss Sonia Henie
Writer
One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.
I Miss Sonia Henie
Director
One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.
The Owl and the Pussycat
Man Looking Through Doubleday's Bookstore (uncredited)
Meek, owlish Felix and strident, catty Doris live in the same apartment building. His incessant typing bothers her; her gentlemen callers bother him. Felix informs the landlord of her activities, so Doris moves in on Felix. When they both get thrown out, they move in with Barney... until they drive him out! That's when Felix and Doris finally decide to put theory into practice. But do opposites attract?
The Owl and the Pussycat
Screenplay
Meek, owlish Felix and strident, catty Doris live in the same apartment building. His incessant typing bothers her; her gentlemen callers bother him. Felix informs the landlord of her activities, so Doris moves in on Felix. When they both get thrown out, they move in with Barney... until they drive him out! That's when Felix and Doris finally decide to put theory into practice. But do opposites attract?
Catch-22
Screenplay
A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation.
Catch-22
Lt. Col. Korn
A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation.
Candy
Mental Patient (uncredited)
A high school girl encounters a variety of kookie characters and humorous sexual situations while searching for the meaning of life.
Candy
Screenplay
A high school girl encounters a variety of kookie characters and humorous sexual situations while searching for the meaning of life.
The Secret War of Harry Frigg
Stockade Commandant
When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WWII, it is a propaganda nightmare for the allies. The generals are all 1 star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to plan an escape. Harry Frigg is a private who has escaped from the guard house dozens of times. He is promoted to Major General and ordered to get the generals out once he is captured. Harry is willing to escape, but then he meets the countess...
The Graduate
Screenplay
Benjamin, a recent college graduate very worried about his future, finds himself in a love triangle with an older woman and her daughter.
The Graduate
Room Clerk
Benjamin, a recent college graduate very worried about his future, finds himself in a love triangle with an older woman and her daughter.
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
Writer
KAOS steals a secret formula that turns water into vapor and threatens the USA to dry up its entire water supply.
The Troublemaker
Original Story
A naive chicken farmer from New Jersey moves to Greenwich Village to open a coffee house.
The Troublemaker
Screenplay
A naive chicken farmer from New Jersey moves to Greenwich Village to open a coffee house.
The Troublemaker
T. R. Kingston
A naive chicken farmer from New Jersey moves to Greenwich Village to open a coffee house.
Segal
Self
A documentary focusing on the life and career of actor George Segal.