Thomas James Davis (August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2012) was an American comedian, writer, and author. He is best known for his comedy partnership with Al Franken, as half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" on Saturday Night Live.
Life and career Davis was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he began his friendship and professional partnership with Al 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. The duo wrote the screenplay for and appeared in the film One More Saturday Night, and had brief appearances 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 various characters. In a well-known sketch on Saturday Night Live, he provided the voice calling into an interview with Dan Aykroyd's Jimmy Carter as the youngster that Jimmy Carter talked down from a bad trip. Davis created the SNL sketches "Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber" (with Steve Martin), "Nick The Lounge Singer" (with Bill Murray), "The Continental" (with Christopher Walken), and "Coneheads" (with Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin).
Illness and death
In 2009, Davis was diagnosed with cancer. He was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, where, on March 31, 2009, Dr. Eric Genden with minimally invasive robotic surgery, removed a tumor on Davis' right tonsil that had metastasized to an adjoining lymph node.
Davis died on July 19, 2012, of throat and neck cancer, aged 59.
Bibliography Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss (2009; ) Owsley and Me: My LSD Family by Rhoney Gissen Stanley and Tom Davis (2012; )
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1975–1980; 1985-1994 Saturday Night Live Various 153 episodes, (final appearance)1976 Tunnel Vision Tom 1977 The Paul Simon Special TV special1979 Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda Merry Man Uncredited1981 Steve Martin's Best Show Ever TV special1983 Trading Places Baggage Handler #2 1983The Coneheads Barry Paisner Voice, Animated TV Special1984 Franken and Davis at Stockton State Himself TV special1984 The New Show Himself TV series1986 One More Saturday Night Larry Hays with Al Franken1989 The Feud Teammate 1993 Coneheads Supplicant with Dan Aykroyd1995 Trailer Park Host TV series1998 Blues Brothers 2000 Prison Clerk 2001 Evolution Governor's Aide
References
External links
Tom Davis Papers. General Collection of Modern Books and Manuscripts. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.