Emmy-winning writer and comedian Kevin Rooney passed away on July 9 at his home in Los Angeles after a long battle with diabetes and end-stage kidney failure, his wife Carole Raphaelle Davis and friend and former assistant Jay Mandyam said. The Hollywood Reporter. Rooney turned 71.
Rooney, a stand-up veteran who worked with Jay Leno and mentored Judd Apatow among other young comics, won two Emmys, in 1994 and 1995, for writing on HBO’s Dennis Miller Live.
After accidentally making his stand-up debut in 1977 at El Brookman’s in Washington, DC, where he poured a pitcher of beer on his head, Rooney returned to stand-up comedy, first in New York City and then in Los Angeles, where he became a regular at the Improv comedy club, where he met Leno, according to an announcement sent in by Mandyam.
Rooney co-wrote Leno’s first comedy special Jay Leno and the American Dream.
“He was the greatest muse a comedian could ever have,” said Leno via Mandyam. “I’ve gotten so much material through conversations with Kevin. The first time I saw him I thought, ‘Oh boy, this guy is really good.’ It’s a real voice. There are no tricks. He had no catch phrase. There was no funny look. When times were tough, they threw out the slogan or funny look. Kevin had none of that. I don’t know anyone who thought they were better than Kevin Rooney. When Kevin took the stage, we all stepped inside. Me, Seinfeld, Larry Miller. At the end of the evening we all said, ‘Rooney’s story was really funny.’ We were all genuinely happy when he was successful. He was a man who deserved it, a unique voice. Never distracted from anyone else. It was that classic New England sarcastic voice. But there was a humanity behind it. Even when he said the most sarcastic. He will be greatly missed.”
Rooney appeared on The Tonight Show and David Letterman’s Late at night. He wrote for Politically Incorrect, The Golden Palace, The Naked Truth, Boston Common, My Wife and Kids, Brothers and Till death. He traded in When Harry Met Sally.
Rooney mentored a number of young comedians, including Judd Apatow, who retweeted the announcement of Rooney’s death by the Improvwriting, he was “so sad to hear the news.”
“He was hilariously funny. His material was so smart and biting, “Apatow wrote partially. “When I first started he was so nice and taught me so much about getting up and writing. A legendary person. REST IN PEACE.”
