Dana Carvey, the great impressionist and comedian from Saturday Night Live, The Dana Carvey Show, and much more, has suffered a terrible tragedy. As he announced in a joint statement on Instagram with wife Paula Zwagerman, “Last night we suffered a terrible tragedy. Our beloved son, Dex, died of an accidental drug overdose. He was 32 years old. Dex packed a lot into those 32 years. He was extremely talented at so many things — music, art, film making, comedy — and pursued all of them passionately.” His full Instagram post is below.
The rest of the message reads as follows:
“Dex packed a lot into those 32 years. He was extremely talented at so many things — music, art, film making, comedy — and pursued all of them passionately. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Dex loved life. And when you were with him, you loved life too. He made everything him. But most of all, he loved his family, his friends and his girlfriend, Kaylee. Dex was a beautiful person. His handmade birthday cards are a treasure. We will miss him forever. To anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone struggling with addiction, you are in our hearts and prayers.”
Dana Carvey has remained busy since his Saturday Night Live days, but has specialized in voice acting over the past several years, having appeared in The Secret Life of Pets and its sequel, Hotel Transylvania 2, Rick and Morty, and the current Netflix animated comedy series, Mulligan. He’s also slightly infamous for creating what’s often known as the most iconic writers’ room of any television series thanks to his highly anticipated The Dana Carvey Show — Louis C.K., Bob Odenkirk, Stephen Colbert, Charlie Kaufman, Steve Carell, Jon Glaser, Robert Smigel, Robert Carlock, Dino Stamatopoulos, and Greg Daniels all wrote for Carvey’s show. The show was canceled after seven episodes, leaving three fully finished episodes unaired, and is now considered a cult classic.
Dex Carvey inherited the comedy bug from his father, frequently performing stand-up and opening for Dana Carvey in his 2016 Netflix special Straight While Male, 60. You can see him on Dystopia Tonight with John Poveromo below, where he shares stories and his all-around charming presence.
