David W. Duclon dead at 74: Punky Brewster creator and Happy Days writer passes away in Illinois

David W. Duclon, a prominent television writer-producer known for creating Punky Brewster, has died at the age of 74.

The 1980s and 1990s comedy writer passed away on Wednesday in Illinois after a long illness, as per Deadline. 

Duclon — born Warren David Duclon — was also known for co-developing Silver Spoons, the 1982 sitcom that ran for five seasons.

He launched his career as a writer on iconic 1970s sitcoms including The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Jeffersons, and Diff'rent Strokes. 

His series Punky Brewster originally aired from 1984 to 1988. It follows the life of Punky (played by Soleil Moon Frye), an orphaned girl who is taken in by a widowed photographer named Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). 

Duclon recently served as an executive producer on the 2021 revival of the show.

Duclon was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1950.

He graduated from Rockford West Public High School. 

He married wife Deborah in 1980. The couple went on to divorce in 2003.

Together, they have one daughter who is a fashion stylist in New York City.

Duclon's career began with writing episodes of The Odd Couple alongside Garry Marshall, who mentored him in showrunning while Duclon worked on hits like Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.

He went on to create several successful sitcoms.

He developed CBS's 1979 comedy Working Stiffs starring James Belushi and Michael Keaton, co-developed the 1982 hit Silver Spoons on NBC, and co-created the 1987 comedy Boys Will Be Boys starring a young Matthew Perry.

He is most famous for developing Punky Brewster.

In 2021, the revival of the 1980s sitcom was officially given the axe at NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service.

The program was cut after its 10-episode first season.

News of the cancelation went public just four days after the leading lady, Soleil, retweeted a fan who was pushing for a renewal.

'Come on @peacockTV we need a second season of Punky Brewster! And a third... and a fourth...,' pleaded the admirer on Twitter.

Soleil was just seven years old when she landed the title role on the original Punky Brewster which began airing on NBC in 1984.

Punky was an abandoned child who ultimately found a foster father in the manager of an apartment building where she was squatting.

The aging foster father Warnimont was played by George Gaynes, who died in 2016 at the age of 98.

NBC initially canceled the show in 1986 after its second season, but it got picked up for syndication and ran two more seasons in 1987 and 1988.

The series earned three Emmy nominations. 

Soleil starred on the revival as an adult Punky who has followed Henry's footsteps by both adopting children and becoming a photographer.

In fact Punky is still in Henry's old apartment, raising her three children - the daughter she conceived biologically and the two sons she did not.

Cherie Johnson reprised her role from the original sitcom as Punky's best friend who just so happened to also be called Cherie Johnson.

The revival got mixed reviews to the tune of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes.

While Duclon was aboard the revival in an executive producer capacity he did not write any of the new episodes.

Duclon helped launch the careers of the next generation of showrunners.

He gave Greg Garcia, the creator of My Name Is Earl and Raising Hope, his first writing job on the 1994 sitcom On Our Own.

Family Reunion and The Neighborhood creator Meg DeLoatch also told Deadline that Duclon hired her for her first staff job and 'a few years later, was kind and humble enough to be my second when I became a showrunner on my first show.'