“Rick Ludwin, an NBC stalwart of three decades who proved his value to the network both as a trusted liaison to Johnny Carson and an early champion of Jerry Seinfeld, died Sunday in Los Angeles, according to the network,” Deadline reports.

Ludwin, 71, reportedly died at his home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.

“Ludwin launched his show-biz odyssey with one legendary funnyman — the future executive did some joke-writing for Bob Hope — and later cemented his legacy with another comedy icon by supporting the game-changing ‘Seinfeld’ when other executives at NBC were skeptical of airing a show that was infamously ‘about nothing,'” Deadline adds.

During his 31 years at NBC, Ludwin worked with every host of “The Tonight Show” — including Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon — and was a key supporter of Conan O’Brien.

O’Brien paid an emotional tribute to Ludwin on “Conan” — here it is …