Tom DeLisle was a native Detroiter who was part of the Detroit Free Press Pulitzer-winning team that covered the 1967 riots. He later went on to write comedy in Hollywood and create the Count Scary TV character in the 1980s, played by local radio and TV host Tom Ryan.
He counted the late comic Garry Shandling among his friends.
On Tuesday, the Clinton Township resident died after a brief illness, the Detroit Free Press reports. He was 71.
“Tom was one of the most gifted writers I ever met,” Ryan tells the Freep. “Give him a subject and he could write an article or TV show about it. It could be serious or extremely funny. (And) no one knew more about the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings or University of Michigan football than Tom."
DeLisle went to De La Salle Collegiate High School and later enrolled at the University of Detroit when he fell in love with journalism, reports Freep special writer Tim Kiska.
In 1971, he left the Freep to join the staff of Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs as an executive assistant and speechwriter.
In 1974, he headed off to Hollywood to write comedy. He later returned to Detroit as a producer and writer at WDIV where he and longtime friend Tom Ryan created the Count Scary character, which became a hit on channels 4, 7 and 50.
Memorial plans are pending.
