While the name Doug Kenney may not be very familiar, he was a key figure in the new comedy movement of the ‘70s. Kenney helped co-found “National Lampoon” magazine. However, he died believing one of the biggest hits of the early ‘80s, Caddyshack, which he co-wrote, was a failure.

Kenney was editor of the Harvard Lampoon while a student there. He, along with select others such as Henry Beard, helped give the humor magazine a makeover. Kenney graduated in 1969 and along with Beard and another Harvard alum (Robert Hoffman) created National Lampoon magazine.

Kenney’s style of comedy was new, edgy, and dark, something a country reeling from the misguidance of the Vietnam War and on the verge of the Watergate scandal desperately needed. Kenney served as the Editor-in-Chief from 1970 until 1972. He served as Senior Editor in 1973 and 1974 before being named Editor from 1975 until 1976. National Lampoon was eventually bought out by publisher 21 Century Communications, which netted Kenney, Beard, and Hoffman a then tidy sum of $7 million dollars.

By 1977, Kenney quit National Lampoon to work on a screenplay for National Lampoon’s Animal House with Chris Miller and Harold Ramis. Kenney even took the small role of “Stork” in the film. The film was a huge success, becoming the most profitable comedy of its time.

Next up for Kenney was co-writing Caddyshack with Bill Murray’s older brother Brian Doyle-Murry and Harold Ramis. Kenney worked hard on the film, but played just as hard. Jon Peters later recalled in a biography that during the 11 week shoot, “debauchery reigned every night.”

The film opened to mostly bad reviews. Roger Ebert said, “Caddyshack feels more like a movie that was written rather loosely, so that when shooting began there was freedom - too much freedom - for it to wander off in all directions in search of comic inspiration.” New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby felt the film wasn’t as funny as Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie.

Kenney was spinning out of control. He was extremely sensitive to two things – criticism of his work and cocaine. In one scene in Caddyshack, Kenney can be seen in the background cutting a line of cocaine.

A drunken Kenney verbally lashed out at reporters during a press conference for the film. Friends were worried about him and asked him to seek professional help, but by this time, Kenney was joking about suicide, driving recklessly, and increasing his cocaine intake.

Trying to help his friend, Chevy Chase took Kenney to Kauai, Hawaii for a relaxing getaway. The two spent three weeks relaxing, playing tennis, and flirting with pretty girls. Chase had to return for work, so Kenney’s girlfriend, actress Kathryn Walker, came out to keep him company. Walker had been away on a shoot for three months, but the reunion didn’t go well. Within days, she returned to Los Angeles, leaving Kenney alone in Hawaii.

Kenney called Doyle-Murray to apologize for Caddyshack being a failure and not making them “wealthy.” He also talked to Walker and promised to be home by Labor Day. He asked Chase to return to Hawaii but by the time Chase got there, it would be too late.

Before he left, Chase received a call that Kenney was missing. After he got there, Kenney was found dead at the bottom of a cliff on August 31, 1980. His body had laid there for three days before being discovered. An autopsy suggested that Kenney had died upon impact, with a fractured skull and ribs. His shoes were left at the top of the cliff. Chase, who had a running joke with Kenney about jumping out of his cowboy boots, wondered if the shoes were left for him by Kenney as one last bizarre joke.

Did Kenney fall? Did drug dealers push the tortured comedian off the cliff? Or, had the perceived failure of the film plus a growing drug addiction pushed him over the edge? The world would never know.

In his room, Kenney had left notes, including one written on the bathroom mirror to Kathryn that read “I love you” and one that said, “These are some of the happiest days I’ve ever ignored.” After his death, good friend Ramis, who later visited the cliff where Kenney died, joked that Kenney “probably fell while he was looking for a place to jump.” Ramis would pay homage to Kenney by naming a character after him in his 1996 film Multiplicity. After Kenney’s funeral, Bill Murray noted that “every funny person in the world was there. And no one laughed.”

Caddyshack would go on to make $40 million at the box office – a hit in those days. The American Film Institute ranked it #71 in the 100 Funniest American Films in 2000 and Bravo listed it as #2 in its 100 Funniest Movies.

Tags: Caddyshack, Harvard, National Lampoon, Saturday Night Live

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Celebrity Death, Celebrity Suicide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.