Simpsons creator Sam Simon loses battle with cancer aged 59
RICKY Gervais has led British tributes to The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, after his death from colon cancer aged 59.
Mr Simon, a nine-time Emmy winner, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in late 2012 and lost his fight for life at home in Los Angeles at the weekend.
He also penned episodes of leading comedy series Taxi and Cheers before the success of The Simpsons, the longest-running primetime series in US history, enabled him to use his wealth to help others.
Gervais tweeted: “RIP Sam Simon. Heroic humanitarian & genius co-creator of The Simpsons. D’oh, indeed.”
In a st atement, Sam Simon’s charitable foundation said: “We all miss him, and in his honour, we will continue bringing his vision to light through our work.
“We take comfort in knowing how many greetings he is receiving across that Rainbow Bridge. We love you Sam!”
Mr Simon picked up seven Emmys for The Simpsons, which he co-developed with two other executives, after it was first aired on December 17, 1989.
He won awards for The Tracey Ullman Show, where Bart Simpson and co had started life as animated sketches shown before and after the ad breaks.
Mr Simon held numerous other posts on The Simpsons, including co-showrunner, character designer, creative consultant, creative supervi- sor, developer, and writer. He left in 1993, but was still credited as an executive producer.
He once said of the hit cartoon show: “You can draw animals and sets but the animated characters also have freedom. The Simpsons sometimes do things that real people wouldn’t do.”
The executive producer of the show Al Jean said: “Sam Simon taught me everything about animation writing, and even more about life.”
Mr Simon also wrote the screenplay for the 1991 slumlord comedy The Super starring Joe Pesci and worked on Anger Management, a US series starring Charlie Sheen.
The Stanford University graduate had drawn cartoons for his school magazine and went immediately to work in TV in the late 1970s, working on cartoon shows.
In one interview he said: “The Simpsons would have been a great radio show. If you just listen to the soundtrack, it works.”