Helen Gorman Kushnick helped engineer Jay Leno's rise from small-time comic to host of "The Tonight Show" and became the show's executive producer when he replaced Johnny Carson. Four months later, Kushnick was fired.
Kushnick, who had battled cancer for several years, died Wednesday at her home in Manhattan, said Jane Rosenthal, a close friend. She was 51.In the weeks after Leno took over as the full-time host of "The Tonight Show" in May 1992, the show suffered an avalanche of criticism as ratings dipped deeper than expected.
Kushnick was fired after she was accused of demanding that guests booked by "Tonight" not appear on rival talk shows. Her disappointment over her dismissal lasted for years, said her longtime Los Angeles attorney Barry Langberg.
"She was hurt by it and she didn't ever stop being hurt by it, including Leno's treatment of her," Langberg said.
Leno did not wish to comment on her death, a spokeswoman for "The Tonight Show" said.
Kushnick grew up in Harlem, N.Y., and her first job was as a secretary at 20th Century Fox.