- Helen Kushnick
Helen Kushnick (born Helen Gorman born
August 18 1946 inNYC and diedAugust 28 1996 ) was the agent of comedians,Jimmie Walker ,Elayne Boosler ,David Letterman andJay Leno for much of his early career. Leno had been performing stand-up comedy in a variety of venues when she found him, and afterwards, Kushnick was with him all the way to his role hosting "The Tonight Show ".Her strong-arm tactics in her role as
executive producer created a great deal of conflict withNBC . (For example, she reportedly banned stars from appearing on the program if they appeared on any other talk show.) These practices led to her dismissal only three months into her tenure in that position.Fact|date=February 2007Filmography
*
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) TV Series (executive producer)
*Jay Leno and the American Dream (1986) (TV) (executive producer)The Late Shift
A 1996
HBO TV movie called "The Late Shift " was about the network politics that occurred after the retirement ofJohnny Carson from the "Tonight Show " onNBC . The movie starredKathy Bates , who received anEmmy Award nomination for portraying Helen Kushnick and won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award.Family
Kushnick's son, Samuel, died of
AIDS due to an infected blood transfusion.Her daughter (Sam's twin sister), Sarah, became an AIDS advocate soon afterward, founding AmFar with
Elizabeth Taylor , and testified before Congress about changing blood supply rules. TheSurgeon General dedicated his book to the memory of Samuel Kushnick.Kushnick's husband, Jerrold Kushnick, died of cancer in 1989, and Helen died of
breast cancer inLos Angeles, California , aged 50.External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1141861/ Helen Kushnick]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116835/ The Late Shift]
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