Who was Dusty Kay? Primetime Emmy-nominated ‘Entourage’ producer dies at 69

Emmy-nominated producer and writer Dusty Kay passed away on Wednesday, April 10. Kay's death was announced on Monday, April 22, by longtime collaborator and friend Bill Nuss. Kay passed away while in Summerlin, Nevada, at the age of 69 after a brief illness. The producer's official cause of death was not specified.

Dusty Kay was a prominent face in Hollywood for 45 years, with writing and production credits in shows like ABC’s Roseanne, ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and HBO's Entourage. Dusty, along with Bill Nuss, even authored the book for a musical adaptation of The Honeymooners.

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Dusty Kay was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Entourage

Eugene L. Kay, professionally known as Dusty Kay, passed away earlier this month. According to Deadline, Kay took on the nickname Dusty after his favorite actor, Dustin Hoffman, when he was a student at Northwestern University. He, along with fellow writer and producer Bill Nuss, developed the college improv, sketch comedy, and music show, Mee-Ow Show.

It became the longest-running college student-produced and written improv show in the history of the United States, running for 50 years. The show has a long list of notable alumni. Bill Nuss wrote in an email procured by Variety —

"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."

The Bronx, New York, native has a plethora of television production and writing credits under his belt. Kay burst into the scene with the short-lived 1987 ABC sitcom Once a Hero, where comic book hero Captain Justice crosses into the real world and loses his superpowers.

The series, which ran for seven episodes, starred Robert Forster, Jeff Lester, and Milo O'Shea, among others. He also has writing and production credits for a bunch of television movies. He produced and wrote the 1986 film Triplecross, which starred Markie Post and Ted Wass.

Kay also boasted writing and production credits for the 1989 film Mick and Frankie, starring Robert Forster, Perry Anzilotti, Robert Firth, and Ed Marinaro, along with 1996's Cutty Whitman, starring Richard Libertini, James Remar, and Carrie Preston.

In 1993, Dusty Kay became the co-supervising producer for five episodes of ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The following year, he wrote and produced the seventh season of ABC's hit sitcom starring Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, Roseanne.

Dusty Kay was also a writer and supervising producer for the fourth season of HBO's hit comedy-drama Entourage, which aired back in 2007. The show starred Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, and Jerry Ferrara, among others. Kay received a shared Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nomination for his work on the show.

A few other shows that also carry writing credits for Dusty Kay include Good Times, Eight Is Enough, James at 16, Early Edition, and the 2002 reboot of The Twilight Zone.

Kay also has a few acting credits under his name for his work on movies like 1997's Hacks, starring John Ritter, Bob Odenkirk, and Lisa Kudrow, and Sandra Bullock and Liam Neeson's crime comedy from 2000, Gun Shy.

'The Honeymooners' premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Image via YouTube/Paper Mill Playhouse)

Dusty Kay and Bill Nuss wrote the book for a musical based on the 1955 sitcom The Honeymooners. The musical premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2017. According to Deadline, it was Bill Nuss who announced Kay's passing on Monday. As mentioned above, the 69-year-old passed away on April 10.

He is survived by his cousins Sheri Behr, Laura Behr, Bernard Rosen, and Felicia Rosen, along with second cousins Jesse Behr, Roxanne Behr, and Jenna Rosen.