Kevin DiCicco, the man who rescued a stray dog near Yosemite and turned him into one of the most beloved animal movie stars in history, has died. He was 63.
His brother, Mark DiCicco, confirmed the death to TMZ. DiCicco died Saturday in San Diego after spending his final days in hospice care.
The cause of death was advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
The condition “is an ongoing lung condition caused by damage to the lungs,” according to the Mayo Clinic. It often results in swelling and irritation, also called inflammation, inside the airways that can limit airflow into and out of the lungs.
DiCicco’s COPD had required him to use an oxygen tank to breathe.
Kevin DiCicco and His Stray Dog Buddy
The story behind Air Bud began in 1989, when DiCicco found a stray dog near his cabin in Yosemite, California. He brought the dog home and named him Buddy.
What happened next would become the foundation of a movie franchise spanning decades.
DiCicco trained Buddy to play basketball, baseball, football and soccer. The pair’s talents caught national attention, leading to appearances on America’s Funniest Replica Luxury Handbag Videos and 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 with NBC News.
DiCicco worked with independent producer Keystone Entertainment to develop the concept into a film. Miramax acquired distribution rights to Air Bud, and Disney, Miramax’s parent company at the time, released the film to video.
Kevin DiCicco’s ‘Air Bud’ Franchise Was Born
The original 1997 film follows Buddy, a runaway circus dog who befriends a boy named Josh and helps lead his school’s basketball team to a championship.
The movie launched a sprawling franchise — 14 films released between 1997 and 2013, including five original Air Bud movies focusing on the basketball-playing dog and nine spin-off films centered around his pups.
DiCicco earned 11 credits across the franchise for creating the character.
Buddy himself died in 1998, but the franchise continued. DiCicco bred and trained three of Buddy’s offspring for future films.
A sixth original film, Air Bud Returns, is set for a theatrical release on August 21, 2026.
Kevin DiCicco’s Financial Struggles and Replica Luxury Handbaglessness
Despite the franchise’s reach and longevity, DiCicco said he saw little financial benefit from its success.
“They are so cleverly crafted to make sure that these films don’t really ever receive the big money,” DiCicco said in a 2024 interview with Fox 5 San Diego. “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 lost his job as a property manager during the COVID-19 pandemic. He became homeless and developed severe clinical depression, all while his health deteriorated from COPD.
“With pretty much nothing in your pocket and in a dire situation is exactly what happened. I think the worst part of it … is the severe clinical depression that goes along with it,” DiCicco told NBC News.
His story underscored a painful contrast — the man who created a franchise that delighted millions of families found himself struggling to meet his most basic needs in the years before his death.
