BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Tom Snyder, the pioneer late-late night network TV talk show host who often interviewed people as cigarette smoke swirled around his head, died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia. He was 71.

"Tom was a fighter,¡¨ Mike Horowicz, longtime producer and friend told The Associated Press on Monday. ¡§I know he had tried many different treatments.¡¨

Sometimes abrasive and possessing a robust laugh, Snyder conducted numerous memorable interviews as host of NBC's "Tomorrow," which followed Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show from 1973 to 1982.

Snyder had John Lennon's final televised interview (April 1975) and rock group U2's first United States television appearance in June 1981.

One of his most riveting interviews was with Charles Manson, who would go from a calm demeanor to acting like a wild-eyed, insanity-spouting mass murderer and back again.

In 1982, the show was canceled after an effort attempt to change it into a talk-variety show called "Tomorrow Coast to Coast." It added a live audience and co-hostess Rona Barrett ¢w all of which Snyder disdained.

The time slot was taken over by a hot young comedian named David Letterman.

"Tom was the very thing that all broadcasters long to be ¢w compelling," Letterman said. "Whether he was interviewing politicians, authors, actors or musicians, Tom was always the real reason to watch. I'm honored to have known him as a colleague and a friend."

Born in Milwaukee, Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in his home town in the 1960s, then moved into local television news, anchoring newscasts in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles before moving to late night.

He returned to local anchoring in New York after "Tomorrow" left the air. He eventually hosted an ABC radio talk show before easing back into television on CNBC.

Briefly in the late 1970s, Snyder was considered a potential successor to John Chancellor as anchor of the "NBC Nightly News." Tom Brokaw got the job instead, as some in NBC management were worried that Snyder's quick and occasionally sharp tongue would get them in trouble, said Joe Angotti, who produced NBC's weekend news then.

Snyder announced on his website in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

(Agencies)