by Tom Davis, who formed a comedy team with Al Franken before both Franken and Davis became original writers for Saturday Night Live, died today after a lengthy battle with cancer. Davis was 59.
Davis won four Emmys for his comedy TV writing. On SNL, he created memorable sketches such as “Nick the Lounge Singer” for Bill Murray, “Theodoric of York” for Steve Martin, and, decades later, “The Continental” for Christopher Walken. But Davis also appeared onscreen, sometimes with Franken.
Here he was, in 2010, reflecting on working with the original cast and crew of SNL, during an interview with SiriusXM radio:
Davis had published his memoirs, 39 Years of Short Term Memory Loss, the year before in 2009.
And in a June 2010 interview with The Comic’s Comic, Davis told me about facing death. “There are things such as miracles. People come up to me and tell me about people who were supposed to die in two months but continue to live. But my own life philosophy, that feels hope and denial are my enemies. I’m facing death and I don’t want to deny it. I’d rather embrace it. And if I don’t die, I’ll be thrilled. If i do die, I want to do it well, with some grace and humor, which is my raison d’etre.”
