Thursday, July 19, 2012

Tom Davis

Tom Davis was best known for his former partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live. He died today of throat and neck cancer.

Davis attended The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he began his friendship and professional partnership with Franken. In 1975, Davis got his big break as one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, where he and Franken also performed together.

Tom Davis: The Early Days of SNL from Berkeley Arts and Letters and Berkeley Arts and Letters on FORA.tv

Franken and Davis also wrote the screenplay for, and appeared in, the film One More Saturday Night, and had cameos in Trading Places and The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.


Davis was a frequent guest on The Al Franken Show, appearing in sketches as characters including Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and a male prostitute. Davis created the SNL sketches "Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber" with Steve Martin, the "Nick The Lounge Singer" sketches with Bill Murray, and "The Continental" with Christopher Walken.


In 2010, Davis was diagnosed with tongue and neck cancer. He originally refused traditional treatment that would have left him disfigured and unable to speak. Eventually he went to Mt. Sinai, where they removed a tumor with minimally invasive robotic surgery.

Mr. Davis kept up his sense of humor to the end, writing an essay on his experiences with cancer and the coming end of his life.

"I wake up in the morning, delighted to be waking up, read, write, feed the birds, watch sports on TV, accepting the fact that in the foreseeable future I will be a dead person," Davis wrote. "I want to remind you that dead people are people too."

Good Night Mr. Davis

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa


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