Kevin DiCicco obit

Kevin DiCicco, Owner of Buddy, the Canine Star of ‘Air Bud,’ Dies at 63

He found the dog near his Sierra Nevada cabin in 1989, and the pooch went on to star in the 1997 film.

 He was not on the list.

Kevin DiCicco, who as the owner of the basketball-playing golden retriever named Buddy helped tip off the lucrative, long-running Air Bud franchise, has died. He was 63.

DiCicco, who suffered from respiratory issues and had a recent bout with homelessness, died Saturday in hospice care in San Diego, his brother Mark told TMZ.

DiCicco adopted Buddy after finding him near his Sierra Nevada cabin in 1989. He trained the dog to play basketball, baseball, football, soccer, etc., and they appeared on America’s Funniest Home Videos and on installments of David Letterman’s “Stupid Pet Tricks.”

“My obsession with sport, and his obsession with ball playing, the combination of the two, created this tremendous canine athlete,” DiCicco said of Buddy in a 2024 interview.

He launched Air Bud Productions, and the first film, 1997’s Air Bud, directed by Charles Martin Smith, features Buddy as a circus dog who escapes his cruel clown master (Michael Jeter) and leads Josh Framm’s (Kevin Zegers) school basketball team to a championship.

The family-friendly movie, from Keystone Entertainment and Disney’s Miramax label, grossed $23 million on a $3 million budget and was followed by a big-screen sequel, Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1988), and direct-to-video releases in 2000, ’02, ’03, ’06, ’08, ’09, ’11 and ’12 (featuring such titles as Air Buddies, Snow Buddies and Santa Buddies). And another Air Bud film is on the way.

Buddy died in February 1998 at age 9 — he only appeared in the first film — but DiCicco bred and trained three of his offspring to keep things going.

Even though the films by some estimates have raked in more than $200 million, DiCicco said he didn’t receive much of the profits.

“They are so cleverly crafted to make sure that these films don’t really ever receive the big money,” he said. “That’s why we now find ourselves in a position of instead of enjoying those twilight years and sliding into retirement, we’re almost having to start over.”

DiCicco said he lost his job as a property manager during the pandemic, became homeless and clinically depressed and developed COPD from using medical marijuana, forcing him to use an oxygen tank to help him breathe. Money from a GoFundMe page helped him keep going.

 

Writer

Treasure Buddies (2012)

Treasure Buddies

4.4

Video

character created by: "Air Bud"

2012

 

Spooky Buddies (2011)

Spooky Buddies

4.6

Video

character "Air Bud" created by

2011

 

Santa Buddies (2009)

Santa Buddies

4.6

Video

character "Air Bud"

2009

 

Space Buddies (2009)

Space Buddies

4.3

Video

character "Air Bud"

2009

 

Snow Buddies (2008)

Snow Buddies

5.1

Video

character "Air Bud"

2008

 

Abigail Breslin, Dominic Scott Kay, Josh Flitter, Skyler Gisondo, and Spencer Fox in Air Buddies (2006)

Air Buddies

4.7

Video

character "Air Bud" (as Kevin Dicicco)

2006

 

Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003)

Air Bud: Spikes Back

4.1

Video

based on the character "Air Bud" created by

2003

 

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002)

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch

4.4

Video

character "Air Bud"

2002

 

Air Bud: World Pup (2000)

Air Bud: World Pup

4.5

Video

character "Air Bud"

2000

 

Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998)

Air Bud: Golden Receiver

4.6

character "Air Bud"

1998

 

Air Bud (1997)

Air Bud

5.4

character "Air Bud"

1997

 

Actor

Air Bud (1997)

Air Bud

5.4

Referee 2

1997

 

Additional Crew

Air Bud (1997)

Air Bud

5.4

trainer: Buddy

1997

 

Thanks

LeVar Burton in Reading Rainbow (1983)

Reading Rainbow

8.4

TV Series

special thanks

1995

1 episode

 

Self

Woof! It's a Dog's Life with Matthew Margolis

TV Series

Self

1998

1 episode

 

David Letterman in Late Night with David Letterman (1982)

Late Night with David Letterman

7.5

TV Series

Self

1992

1 episode

 

America's Funniest Home Videos (1989)

America's Funniest Home Videos

6.2

TV Series

Self

1990

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

Damien Duvot in Les Chroniques du Mea (2012)

Les Chroniques du Mea

6.7

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

2015

1 episod