Dusty Kay dead at 69: Emmy-nominated film producer who worked on Roseanne and Entourage, has passed away

Emmy-nominated film producer Dusty Kay has died at 69. His friend Bill Nuss who was also his longtime collaborator announced that he had passed away after a brief illness on 10 April 2024 in Summerlin, Nevada, USA. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The pair authored the book for a musical based on The Honeymooners that premiered in 2017 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. 

Dusty Kay who was both a producer and writer, worked on the likes of  Roseanne, Entourage and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Born in the Bronx in New York, Dusty Kay had a 45-year long career in television. He created the ABC sitcom, ‘Once a Hero,’ which was about a comic book hero who after crossing from a fictional world to a real world (where he fights crimes), discovers that he has lost all his superpowers. 

Dusty Kay’s other writing credits include ‘Good Times, ‘James at 16,’ Eight is Enough, ‘Early Edition’ and ‘The Twilight Zone.’He also wrote and produced TV films such as ‘Mick and Frankie; and ‘Triplecross. 

Although he was known as a writer and producer, Dusty Kay also starred alongside the likes of Friends star Lisa Kudrow in ‘Hacks’  and alongside Sandra Bullock and LIam Neeson in ‘Gun Shy.’ Dusty Kay won an Emmy nomination for his work on Entourage in 2008, the Emmy nomination was for outstanding comedy series. 

Dusty Kay was born Eugene Lawrence Kay but he decided to take the name of Dusty in honour of his favourite actor Dustin Hoffman whilst he was at Northwestern University. It was while he was at University that he and Bill Nuss developed the ‘Mee-Ow Show.’ According to Variety, it is “now the longest running college improv show.” 

Variety also reported that “It served as a breeding ground for scores of writers, directors, creators, showrunners and actors including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ana Gasteyer, and Seth Meyers.”