Kevin Bleyer Dies: Emmy Winning ‘Daily Show’ Writer & Barack Obama Speech Writer Dies In Car Crash At 54

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 the president’s addresses to the annual White House Correspondents Dinners, died in a car accident on Sunday, October 25, on a rural road in Millrift, PA, where he had a country home. He was 54.

His death was announced by his family.

“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, raised in Seattle and a residnet 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 cancelation in 2002.

In 2004, Bleyer pivoted to Dennis Miller, the two-season (2004-2005) late-night talk and interview show on CNBC. 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 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’ Today Show, and serving as Supervising Producer for MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow Daily.

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 (Random House) and a co-author of the bestseller Earth: The Book. More recently, he was the co-author, with former US 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 the speeches of President Barack Obama, including all of the president’s addresses to the annual White House Correspondents Dinners. In scripted episodic television, Kevin 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.

Bleyer is survived by wife Nella Vera; father Dr. Archie Bleyer; brother Keith Bleyer and sister-in-law Kelly Schulz-Bleyer.