The network resisted giving Groening the autonomy he needed and plied him with notes. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Matthew Abram Groening (/ren/ GRAY-ning; born February 15, 1954)[1] is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He married Agustina Picasso 2011 . [111], Groening, Matt; Reiss, Mike; Kirkland, Mark. As described in .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History, he grew up next to the old Portland Zoo, which, after reopening in a new location in 1959, became a wonderland for Groening and his friends with its abandoned animal enclosures. For a man who has become famous on the strength of his dark musings, starting with "Life in Hell," his weekly comic strip, Mr. Groening (it rhymes with complaining, his publicist says) comes off in person as surprisingly benign: big, bearish and still a bit astonished to find his jokes getting so out of hand. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) would be produced. Playdate with Destiny (2020) Deborah Kaplan has been divorced from Matt Groening since 1999. ------------------------------------------. After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer and producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. [98] Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated. His mother, Margaret, though, used to have "huge hair.". Ian Maxtone-Graham, another writer on the show, has said in an interview, "I would rather make George Meyer laugh than get an Emmy." [63], The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Mr. Groening planned to use the figures from "Life in Hell." "If I could pay my rent, I was deliriously happy. After their marriage, he became the stepfather of Augustina Picasso's daughter Camille. "[46], Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake. Matt Groening married Deborah Caplan in 1986. In 2011, he married artist Augustina Picasso, with whom he had been in a relationship for four years. And I always say, 'Whatever offends you the most.' Groening stands at a height of 5 ft 8 in (approx:1.7 m). . Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. Groening has said that due to his limited drawing ability, it's unlikely he could get a job as an animator on "The Simpsons" today. "[19] He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians,[20] and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle,[21] Monty Python,[22] and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations. They had 2 children. Deborah is a publisher. Matt Groening created the show The Simpsons, and two of the principal characters, a husband and wife, are named Homer and Marge. George Bush once famously regaled the nation with the suggestion that American families should aspire to be "more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons," prompting Bart to retort, "But we're just like the Waltons -- we're both praying for an end to the depression."). He rose to fame with the comic strip Life in Hell; and his animated television series The Simpsons. Or rather, he is the struggling, penurious pre-"Simpsons" Matt Groening. 1 . Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) From his office on the Fox lot Mr. Groening cheerfully presides over this merchandising mania. Deborah Caplan and Matt Groening are divorced after a marriage of 13 years. However, the couple divorced in 1999 after thirteen years of marriage. (2002). Deborah Caplan: Groening has been in a relationship with Deborah Caplan since 2006. The Simpsons Movie (2007) It is six years since "The Simpsons" made its debut as a 20-second segment in "The Tracey Ullman Show" and three years since it became its own series on Fox Broadcasting. Deborah Caplan Born - Unknown Deborah is a publisher. Groening was born on February 15, 1954,[3][4] in Portland, Oregon,[5] the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. Its first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. "[19] The show premiered on March 28, 1999. In 1973, he moved to LA and sold his comic strip Life in Hell to the LA weekly. His father Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family. Reply. In Groening's version, the boy dies from his head injury and returns as a ghost every Halloween, a morbid tale that surprisingly became the winning entry. [30] The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year. [38] After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. Lisa is a producer and is famous for her work on Christmas at Pee Wees Playhouse (1988), Arnold Escapes from Church (1988), and The Arnold Waltz (1990). He first sold his comic to magazine Wet, in 1978. Before, Groening was married to his first wife Deborah Caplan. Its shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired 727 episodes. [65] The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. In 2002, he won the Reuben Award by the National Cartoonists Society for his work, Life in Hell. MATT GROENING would like to tell you a few things about his family: His father, Homer, is not bald. (2015) She was Groening's long-time girlfriend before she married him in 2011. "I wake up every morning thinking how lucky I am. Brooks contacted him in 1985 about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety shows The Tracey Ullman Show. [24], In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. Matt Groening's then-girlfriend, Deborah Caplan, published "Love is Hell" in November 1984 which is a book form of series of relationship-themed "Life in Hell" strips and followed by "Work is Hell" which was also published by her. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. "Life in Hell" was also sold in the punk corner of the store, where the punks sometimes ripped them up. Le fils de pre Homer Philip Groening et mre Margaret Ruth est comdien de stand-up, crivain & caricaturiste, anno 2023 clbre pour The Simpsons & Futurama. Groening is estimated to be worth US$ 500 million. [51] At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Futurama (1999-2013) [96] In January 2022, Groening's tenth child Satori was born. Executive producer and show runner Mike Scully once told the New Yorker, "People are always asking why 'The Simpsons' is still so good after all these years, and, at the risk of pissing off all the other writers, I think I'd have to say that the main reason is probably George." Now, though, "The Simpsons" offices at Fox, housed in what looks like a cheap motel, run on a routine, and he has eased off a bit. Groening's position is an interesting one for a satirist to find himself in. Homer Groening (born 1991)
In 2011, he married artist Augustina Picasso, with whom he had been in a relationship for four years. From teachers who forced him to rip up his cartoons in front of the class, to the petty tyranny of bosses ("I was told that I would never get a job in the Pacific Northwest in journalism after my disgraceful stewardship of the Cooper Point Journal," Groening told the graduating class in a commencement address at his alma mater, Evergreen State College. "I'm a fan of counterculture -- of which there is very little right now," he told Fortune magazine. It's my foundation,"[37] the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hell's conclusion. As Flaubert might have said, "Binky, c'est tout le monde." Groening worked as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which Groening also wrote articles and drew cartoons. The couple has two sons, Homer and Abe. The Good, the Bart, and the Loki (2021) In 1997, he and retired Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, ran for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for more seasons. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. It was Homer, a cartoonist and filmmaker, who showed his precocious son that a career of creative fulfillment was possible. After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. About Matt Groening is a 68 year old American Cartoonist. The Simpsons (1989-present) Surname is pronounced "gray-ning" (rhymes with "raining"); born February 15, 1954, in Portland, OR; son of Homer (a filmmaker) and Margaret Ruth (ateacher; maiden name, Wiggum) Groening; married Deborah Lee Caplan (Groening's manager and business partner), October 29, 1986; children: Homer, Abraham. [12] Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. "Hey, they were right! The Longest Daycare (2012) [75] Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. Groening's rough-and-tumble early days in Tinseltown provided endless fodder for a comic he titled Life in Hell, featuring the anthropomorphic rabbit Binky. The couple have two children together: a son, Homer, and a daughter, Maggie. Perhaps, were he to walk in off the street, he could get a job as a writer on the show. The goal of the company, she told Newsweek, was to "keep the machine of Matt going." Homer was a cartoonist, advertiser, writer, and a documentary filmmaker. Commentary for ", Silverman, David; Reardon, Jim; Groening, Matt. Menu Log In Sign Up Hair High (2004) as Dill Matt Groening married Deborah Caplan in 1986. The series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix on July 25, 2017. He is from OR. [58], Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit,[59] the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. His sister Maggie is not mute. "I judge my life by how miserable it used to be," Groening told an interviewer last year, speaking of his early days as a lowly alternative cartoonist. [60] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. It was Mr. Groening's girlfriend, Deborah Caplan (now his wife), who in 1984 gave the comic strip its first lift by forming a small company to publish a collection of his cartoons, "Love Is Hell . In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Matts youngest child is named after writer Nathaniel West. In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. Mr. Groening describes "The Simpsons" as a decidedly perverse take on some of the most popular shows of his childhood, like "Leave It to Beaver." The couple also welcomes daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia born in 2015. Needless to say, it panned out. Where Does Matt Groening Live? [100][101], Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. All rights reserved. He gleefully zinged their sensibilities after becoming editor of the school paper, at one point instigating a petition that condemned his satirization of communal life, while also training his ire on mainstream targets like the Washington state legislature.