‘The Simpsons’ Co-Creator Sam Simon Dead At 59 After Battling Cancer
The co-creator of The Simpsons, Sam Simon, has passed away from a long battle with colorectal cancer. He was 59-years-old.
At the time of his death, Simon was at home in Los Angeles. The co-creator of The Simpsons was diagnosed with cancer in late 2012. At the time of his diagnosis, doctors gave him six months to live, but he lived a lot longer than expected.
In addition to the confirmation from his rep, The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean confirmed the news of Simon’s death on Twitter.
.@thesimpsons #everysimpsonsever Just heard terrible news of death of @simonsam. A great man; I owe him everything.
— Al Jean (@AlJean) March 9, 2015
This is a huge loss for The Simpsons family, but not the only one that stings. Back in October of last year, The Simpsons lost voice actress Jan Hooks from cancer. Hooks played Apu’s wife on the show. A year before that, The Simpsons lost a huge presence on the show when actress Marcia Wallace died. Wallace played Edna Krabappel on the animated series.
As for Sam Simon, he leaves a very large legacy in the wake of his death. Not only was he responsible for The Simpsons, but the nine-time Emmy winner was also behind episodes of Taxi, Cheers, and It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.
As the Inquisitr reported, before his death Sam decided to donate is $100 million dollar fortune to charity. Back in November, Simon gave an exclusive interview to Maria Shriver to discuss his battle with cancer, and why he has decided to donate his money to charity.
Through the Sam Simon Foundation, he donated to PETA to help dog training, adoption services, and a mobile pet clinic. In addition, he donated to Save the Children and Feeding Families.
“It’s a journey, it’s a fight, it’s tough, but if you want publicity and you want to pick up girls. Cancer is the greatest thing in the world.”
He continued, “A lot of it is selfish. I get to watch these animals that have been in concrete bunkers their whole life, I get to watch them take their first steps on grass.”
As for his footprint with The Simpsons, Simon founded the show with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks. He also wrote episodes of the show as well. Simon decided to leave the show in 1993 although he still had an executive producer credit.
In a statement, Al Jean said, “Sam Simon taught me everything about animation writing, and even more about life.”
[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images]
