Kevin Bleyer, an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning television writer whose credits included The Daily Show and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and who contributed speeches for President Barack Obama including all of his addresses to the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, died October 25 in a car accident on a rural road in Millrift, PA, where he had a country home. He was 54.
His death was announced by his family.
In a statement, Bleyer’s wife Nella Vera said: “Kevin spent his life finding the perfect words to make people laugh, think, and see the world a little differently. I was lucky enough to know the humor, curiosity, mischief, and tenderness behind those words—and to be loved by a man who made my own world more joyful, more adventurous, and infinitely more beautiful.”
“Kevin Bleyer was a writer’s writer,” said his friend, the actor and screenwriter Danny Strong. “From his many years on The Daily Show to writing Obama’s WHCD speeches to his many books and his work on numerous scripted dramas, Kevin could literally do it all. His immense talent was only outmatched by his kind soul. I am in complete shock that he is gone and my sadness is overwhelming. I already miss him dearly.”
Born in Bethesda, Maryland, and raised in Seattle, Bleyer was a child actor, appearing in a well-known commercial for Aim toothpaste and in the 1985 Academy Award-nominated film Twice in a Lifetime, where he played Gene Hackman’s grandson and Amy Madigan’s son. An avid lover of theater, he appeared as Jack in Sondheim’s Into the Woods when he was in college and sang a cappella with the Fleet Street Singers, where he was named Best Male Collegiate Soloist by the Contemporary A Cappella Society.
A graduate of Stanford University, Bleyer began his career as a dramaturg and assistant to actress-playwright Anna Deavere Smith at the New York Public Theater and Broadway’s Cort Theater.
A resident of New York City for the last 20 years, Bleyer launched his TV career in 2000 as a writer for Maher’s late-night ABC talk show Politically Incorrect, remaining with that show for 30 episodes until its cancellation in 2002.
In 2004, Bleyer pivoted to Dennis Miller, the late-night talk and interview show that ran for two seasons on CNBC in 2004-05. Bleyer wrote on 66 episodes of Miller’s show and served as a producer.
In 2005, Bleyer wrote for the Comedy Central series Sports Central, and the following year he began the work that would be a career highlight: He joined the writing staff of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, remaining with the Comedy Central program until Stewart’s departure in 2012. In all, he is credited with contributing to 1,041 episodes.
Other credits include writing and producing for NBC News’ Toda, and serving as supervising producer for MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow Daily.
“I don’t remember meeting Kevin because it instantly felt like I knew him forever,” said MS NOW anchor Lawrence O’Donnell. “Kevin was a generous friend who always brought the gift of laughter.”
Off screen, Bleyer was the author of Me the People: One Man’s Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America and a co-author of the bestseller Earth: The Book. More recently, he was the co-author, with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, of the book How to Sweet-Talk a Shark — recounting among other adventures their humanitarian mission to North Korea to negotiate the release of hostage Kenneth Bae.
As a speechwriter, Bleyer contributed to many of Obama’s speeches, including all of the president’s addresses to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and also wrote speeches for NASA astronauts, sitting senators, foreign diplomats, U.S. ambassadors and even the pop star Shakira.
He also served for a time as the Deputy Chief Speechwriter for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. In 2014, Bleyer was a resident Fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, on the invitation of former Obama senior advisor and IOP director David Axelrod. In 2018, Bleyer was an adjunct professor in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
In scripted episodic television, Bleyer was a writer for Disney+’s The Right Stuff — an adaptation of the Tom Wolfe book — Fox’s Sleepy Hollow and Bravo’s Significant Others.
In 2013, Bleyer lived for a time in Kyrgyzstan, where he executive produced Studio 7, the first political satire news show in all of Central Asia. Upon returning, he co-founded Pilot Media Initiatives, which launches civics-minded media programs in democratically-challenged countries, nearby and far-flung. During the past decade he produced and helped launch scripted, unscripted and political satire television shows in Macedonia, Nigeria, Moldova, Kenya, Jordan and Estonia.
He also spent a year in London, where he worked for journalist David Brancaccio at London Bureau of Public Radio International’s business affairs program Marketplace.
Bleyer was the recurring voice for the Onion Radio News. He also had a weekly column in The Daily Beast and wrote columns for Foreign Policy during and about the FIFA World Cup.
Before his death, he had been developing a pilot about NYC politics for Appian Way Productions and HBO.
“I had the privilege of counting Kevin Bleyer as both a friend and a work partner,” said producer Llewellyn Wells. “Whether developing a series pitch or sitting around sharing stories, Kevin brought the wit, the funny, the satire. But underneath that rare talent lived a man with depth, love and a sincere desire to leave the world a better place than he found it. Whether working with the U.S. State Department in Central Asia to bring political satire programming to that part of the world or delivering biting and poignant takes on The Daily Show and many other programs, Kevin did just that. He left the world a better place than he found it. The heavens are shining brighter today, the earth lost an angel.”
Bleyer is survived by wife Nella Vera; father Dr. Archie Bleyer; brother Keith Bleyer and sister-in-law Kelly Schulz-Bleyer; nephew Evan Bleyer and niece Lauren Bleyer.