According to hollywoodreporter.com, the Emmy winning writer and comedian Kevin Rooney passed away on July 9th, at his home in Los Angeles after a long fight with diabetes and renal failure, at the age of 71. Rooney worked with Jay Leno, Judd Apatow, and many other young comedians, in 1994 and 1995 he won Emmys for writing on HBO’s Dennis Miller Live. Rooney also co-wrote Leno’s first comedy special titled Jay Leno and the American Dream.
Leno had a lot to say about him in stating, “He was the greatest muse a comedian could ever have, I got so much material just 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’s no gimmicks. He didn’t have a catch phrase. There wasn’t a funny look. When times were rough, they throw out the catch phrase or funny look. Kevin didn’t have any of that. I don’t know anybody who thought they were better than Kevin Rooney. When Kevin took the stage, we’d all step inside. Me, Seinfeld, Larry Miller. At the end of the night, we’d all say, ‘Rooney’s story was really funny.’ We were all genuinely happy when he had success. He was a guy who earned it, a unique voice. Never derivative of anyone else. It was that classic New England sarcastic voice. But there was a humanity behind it. Even when he said the most sarcastic thing. He will be greatly missed.” Rooney also had appeared on The TOnight Show and David Letterman’s Late Night on top of writing for several places such as Politically Incorrect, The Golden Palace, The Naked Truth, Boston Common, My Wife and Kids, Brothers and Til Death.
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