... In 1975, Mr. Davis, brilliant at improvisational comedy, and Mr. Franken, a whiz at plotting funny sequences, became two of the first writers on a new show called "Saturday Night Live," which has lasted 37 years. ...
Mr. Davis never lost the quirky, original tone that helped shape the show, and in his last months he referred to death as "deanimation." He deanimated on Thursday at his home in Hudson, N.Y., at age 59. The cause was throat and neck cancer, his wife, Mimi Raleigh, said. ...
In the early years of "Saturday Night Live," Mr. Davis and Mr. Franken also appeared as a comic duo. One Franken and Davis routine was "The Brain Tumor Comedian," in which Mr. Franken, his head bandaged, tried to tell jokes but kept forgetting the punch line. Mr. Davis fought tears as he implored the audience to applaud. ...
In a recent interview, Senator Franken said he and Mr. Davis had complemented each other, with Mr. Davis bringing his improvisational experience to the act and Mr. Franken contributing his skill at structuring a routine. Mr. Davis's humor had a sardonic, even cynical, sting, Mr. Franken said, but retained "sweetness and a Minnesota outlook." ...
He and Mr. Franken were so close that Mr. Franken named his daughter Thomasin Davis Franken. ...
More (w/photo):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/arts/television/tom-davis-saturday-night-live-comedy-writer-dies-at-59.html
Blog, a searchable database of obituaries
back to 2001:
http://DeadCelebrityAlert.com
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