text: Kevin Curran, a veteran comedy writer who spent 15 years on “The Simpsons,” died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 59. 
   
   Curran graduated from Harvard College in 1979, where he served as an editor for the Harvard Lampoon. While at Harvard, Curran met Al Jean, who would go on to become the showrunner of Fox’s “The Simpsons.” Curran had been on staff at “The Simpsons” since 2001, most recently serving as co-executive producer. 
   
   “He was one of the funniest guys I ever met,” Jean said. “He also had one of the sweetest, biggest hearts. He really was a terrific guy.” 
   
   Notable episodes Curran wrote for “The Simpsons” include “Don’t Fear the Roofer” (2005) and “I’m Spelling as Fast as I Can” (2003). He conceived the idea and co-wrote the 2002 “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween episode “The Island of Dr. Hibbert.” Curran won three Emmy Awards during his tenure on the show. 
   
   In addition, Curran won three consecutive Emmys from 1985-87 as part of the writing team on NBC’s “Late Night With David Letterman.” In the 1990s, he worked on Fox’s “Married With Children” and was also an executive producer of the WB Network’s “Unhappily Ever After” alongside “Married With Children” creator Ron Leavitt. Curran’s other TV credits included the short-lived ABC comedy “The Good Life.” 
   
   Curran is survived by a son and a daughter that he had with his former partner, author Helen Fielding. 
   
   Friends and former colleagues took to social media to pay tribute to Curran. 
   
   .@TheSimpsons V v sad at the passing of Kevin Curran brilliantly funny and true friend https://t.co/hCoPUEV6xx — Al Jean (@AlJean) October 25, 2016 
   
   He worked with me at the old Letterman show, a millionyears ago. He was sweet, original and hilarious. Very sad to hear he is gone. https://t.co/REmzcQprjS — Merrill Markoe (@Merrillmarkoe) October 25, 2016 
   
   Cynthia Littleton contributed to this report. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. 
   
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   This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Kevin Curran, a veteran TV comedy writer-producer who won six Emmys as part of the staffs of The Simpsons and Late Night With David Letterman, died today at his Los Angeles home after a lengthy illness. He was 59. Simpsons showrunner Al Jean, who met Curran while they were at Harvard in the late 1970s, confirmed the news of Twitter: 
   
   .@TheSimpsons V v sad at the passing of Kevin Curran brilliantly funny and true friend https://t.co/hCoPUEV6xx — Al Jean (@AlJean) October 25, 2016 
   
   NBC 
   
   Curran wrote nearly a dozen episodes of Fox’s The Simpsons and had been part of its producing team for the past 15 years, most recently as co-EP. He shared three Emmys for Outstanding Animated Program among 14 nominations spanning 2002-2016. Earlier in his career, he shared three consecutive writing Emmys for NBC’s Late Night With David Letterman, as the show began to dominate late-night TV and shake up the TV comedy world. 
   
   Jean said today in a statement: “Kevin Curran was a sweet, brilliant man who said many hilarious things, some unprintable, others which will live forever in a children’s cartoon.” 
   
   During his career, Curran also wrote for and held producer roles on the WB’s Unhappily Ever After (1997-99), NBC’s The Good Life (1994) and another early Fox comedy Married … With Children (1990-97). On the latter show, he also provided the voice for the wisecracking family dog Buck in dozens of episodes.
target: – Kevin Curran might not have been a household name, but there were few Americans he didn't get a laugh out of during a decades-long career in TV comedy writing and producing. Curran, a six-time Emmy winner who has died from complications from cancer at the age of 59, joined the producing team of The Simpsons in 2001 and wrote a dozen episodes, Deadline reports. He won three of his Emmys with The Simpsons and three with Late Night With David Letterman, where he was part of the writing team from 1985 to 1987, reports Variety. He came up with the show's first Top Ten list: "'Top Ten Words That Almost Rhyme with ‘Peas.'" Curran's other TV credits included Married With Children, where he was a producer from 1990 to 1993—and provided the voice of Buck the Dog. His comedy career started at Harvard, where he was editor of the Harvard Lampoon. "Kevin Curran was a sweet, brilliant man who said many hilarious things, some unprintable, others which will live forever in a children’s cartoon," Simpsons showrunner Al Jean, who first met him at Harvard, said in a statement. Curran is survived by a son and daughter from his long relationship with Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding. (We lost Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon last year.)