Kevin Turen,'Euphoria' and 'The Idol' producer, dies at 44

Kevin Turen, producer on HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The Idol,’ dies at 44

A man with dark brown hair and some facial scruff smiles with another person's arm around his shoulders

By Nardine SaadStaff Writer

Nov. 13, 2023 10:55 AM PT

Kevin Turen, a film and TV producer who worked on HBO’s “Euphoria” and “The Idol,” has died. He was 44.

Turen died suddenly over the weekend, Deadline reported. No cause of death or additional details were given.

For the record:

3:48 p.m. Nov. 13, 2023The photo on a previous version of this story showed producer Tom Gormican instead of Kevin Turen. The new photo shows Turen. Gormican has not died.

“We are saddened to learn of the sudden passing of our friend and colleague, Kevin Turen,” a spokesperson for HBO said Monday in a statement to The Times. “ He was a talented producer and collaborator and will be immensely missed by all who knew and had the fortune of working with him.”

In a Sunday statement to Deadline, Turen’s father Edward said that the producer was “so incredibly special” and that “this world is going to be less without him.”

Turen’s close friend Jay Penske, the CEO of Penske Media Corp., also confirmed Turen’s death to The Times and PMC-run publications Deadline and the Hollywood Reporter. Penske said that despite Turen’s many achievements in Hollywood, his “greatest passion was his family and friends.”

“He was so proud of his children. He and his wife, Evelina, were resolved that their children grow up with great values and ensured they make a difference in the broader world,” Penske said. “Our collective heart breaks for them, and we all feel such a profound sense of loss. We will miss Kevin so much, and this town lost one of its brightest rising stars today.”

Turen, along with Sam and Ashley Levinson, co-founded Little Lamb Productions in 2018 and produced the nine-time Emmy-winning drama “Euphoria,” which stars Zendaya and the late Angus Cloud, as well as the widely panned “The Idol.” They also produced the feature film “Pieces of a Woman” in 2020 and worked closely with filmmaker Ti West, producing the slasher-horror films “X” and “Pearl” in 2022 — the first two parts in West’s X trilogy that stars Mia Goth.

Turen, born in New York in 1979, studied cinema at Columbia University before moving to Los Angeles. His other major credits include “An American Crime,” “Arbitrage,” “All Is Lost,” “That Awkward Moment,” “The Birth of a Nation,” “Malcolm & Marie” and “Irma Vep.”

The producer is survived by his wife, actor Evelina Turen, and their two sons, Jack and James.