Comprehensive information and links about Douglas Kenney

Douglas Kenney magazine in the 1970s. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material. [1]

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National Lampoon

Doug Kenney was one of the originating forces of what was to become known during the 1970's as the "new wave" of comedy, a dark, irreverent later influenced "Saturday Night Live" and a host of other television programs and motion pictures. Kenney also co-edited was the most successful comedy film to date, making Kenney one of the most sought-after writers in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the sense of self-satisfaction and happiness that Kenney felt following the premiere of faded in direct proportion to the attention and praise he received. He longed to be doing what he considered to be serious work—writing the great American novel or the movie-of-movies—and increasingly thought of himself as a failure.

opened to negative reviews in July, 1980 (Ramis joked that the film was "a six-million-dollar scholarship to film school"), Kenney became extremely depressed. At a press conference, he verbally abused reporters and then fell into a drunken stupor. Concerned friends began asking Kenney to seek professional help, but by that time he was spinning out of control, joking about previous suicide attempts, driving recklessly, and using increasing amounts of cocaine.

Suicide

He died on August 27, 1980, in Kauai, Hawaii, after falling from a thirty-foot cliff. Police found his abandoned vehicle the following day, but it wasn't until three days later that Kenney's was discovered. Found in Kenney's hotel room were notes for projects he had been planning, jokes, and an outline for a new movie. "We also found," Chevy Chase told Rolling Stone magazine, "written on the back of a hotel receipt, a bunch of random thoughts that included the reasons why he loved Kathryn, and a gag line: "These last few days are among the happiest I've ever ignored."