Born Eugene L. Kay, also known as “Dusty,” a writer and Emmy-nominated producer whose credits include “Entourage,” “Roseanne” and “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” died on April 10 in Summerlin, Nev., following a brief illness, his long time collaborator and friend Bill Nuss announced. He was 69.
Kay was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and grew up in Yonkers and Spring Valley. His 45-year long career in television earned him several credits including the 1987 ABC sitcom “Once a Hero,” which he created, which starred Robert Forster, Milo O’Shea, Caitlin Clarke, and Jeff Lester. It followed a comic book hero who crosses over from a fictional world to fight crime in the real world, then he discovers he’s lost all his superpowers.
Kay wrote and produced the TV films “Triplecross,” starring Ted Wass, and Markie Post, “Mick and Frankie,” starring Ed Marinaro, Robert Firth and Robert Forster, and Cutty Whitman, starring James Remar, and Richard Libertini. More of Kay’s writing credits include “Good Times,” “James at 16,” “Eight is Enough,” “Early Edition” and the 2002 reboot of “The Twilight Zone.”
Popular on Variety
He received an Emmy nomination for outstanding comedy series for his work on “Entourage” in 2008.
Kay also worked as an actor, appearing in “Hacks”(John Ritter, Richard Kind, Bob Odenkirk, Lisa Kudrow) and “Gun Shy” (Sandra Bullock, Liam Neeson, Oliver Platt).
While attending Northwestern University, Kay took the name Dusty in honor of his favorite actor Dustin Hoffman. There, him and Nuss developed the “Mee-Ow Show,” running for 50 years at Northwestern, which is now the longest running college improv show.
“It served as a breeding ground for scores of writers, directors, creators, showrunners and actors including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ana Gasteyer, and Seth Meyers. He was celebrated for that achievement last month at Northwestern,” Nuss wrote in an email.
In 2017, the pair wrote the book for the musical “The Honeymooners.”
Kay is survived by cousins Ira and Laura Behr, Sheri Behr, Bernard and Felicia Rosen, and second cousins, Roxanne Behr, Jesse Behr, and Jenna Rosen.