Stu Rosen, Creator of Classic Children’s Show ‘Dusty’s Treehouse,’ Dies at 80

Stu Rosen, who created the children’s show Dusty’s Treehouse, which ran from 1968-80, died Sunday after a battle with cancer. He was 80.

Rosen’s cousin, Donna Siegel, posted the news on Facebook.

“My heart is broken and I’m sure anyone who has ever met him feels the same way. What a character he was,” she wrote. “He is the one I wrote about a few months ago that I gave a birthday party for….but it was really a going away party because he was dying of cancer. I told you all that it was the best party I have ever given. … I will always have a special place in my heart for this fabulous man.”

Rosen also was a voice actor and voice director, lending his talent to shows including Fraggle Rock, MASK, Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling, The Legend of Prince Valiant and more.

Born June 26, 1939, Rosen got his start in entertainment as a production assistant at KCET. He then went on to pitch the show Dusty’s Treehouse to CBS, where it on on local station KNXT (now KCBS) before briefly being syndicated nationally. It also aired in reruns on Nickelodeon during the network’s early days.

The show won eight Emmys.

According to his LinkedIn page, Rosen most recently was serving as adjunct professor for the film and TV department at California State University, Long Beach.  

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