Washington - Former US government spokesman and Fox News commentator Tony Snow has died at the age 53 from colon cancer, US media reported Saturday.

Snow served as Bush's third press secretary, from April 2006 to September 2007 following Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Used to earning more as a television commentator Snow took a pay cut to work as press secretary and resigned citing financial considerations. Married with three children, he said he took out a loan to work at the White House.

"This job has really been a dream for me and a blast," Snow said when he announced his resignation. He was replaced by Dana Perino.

After having his colon removed in 2005 Snow announced in late March 2007 that cancer had spread to his liver. Snow lost his mother to colon cancer when he was 17.

Snow worked as a commentator for News Corp's Fox News for 10 years before he joined the Bush administration. He was also host of the network's Sunday public affairs program "Fox News Sunday." Prior to joining Fox, Snow was a syndicated columnist for the Detroit News and a columnist for USA Today.

Born June 1, 1955 in Berea, Kentucky, Robert Anthony Snow was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and educated at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He taught briefly in Kenya before embarking on a career in journalism as an editorial writer for the Greensboro Record in North Carolina, according to Fox News.

Snow joined the administration of Bush's father, President George H. W. Bush, as director of speechwriting in 1991.

Bloomberg news service reported that in his spare time, Snow played guitar, saxophone and the flute in an amateur rock-n-roll band called Beats Workin'. The group billed itself on a Web site as a combination of "four lawyers, a realtor, a business executive, and a radio and TV political commentator."

Snow is survived by his wife, Jill Ellen Walker, whom he married in 1987; their son, Robbie; and daughters, Kendall and Kristi.

"It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day," President Bush said in a statement. "He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work." (dpa)