He is not. Chester Bennington American Singer-Songwriter. Matt Groening - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages Groening has received 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award due to outstanding contribution to comedy in 2004. [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. He works as a cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. [78], On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release. Simon was also responsible for hiring the writing staff, who shaped the characters into what they are today. Following this success, came his next work, Work is Hell, also published by Deborah Caplan. Groening's success owes as much to his own work as it does to the work of a slew of others, including co-creators James Brooks and Sam Simon, and "The Simpsons'" writing staff. [103] He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. [63], The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Matt Groening (full Name: Matthew Abram Groening) is a popular American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. From this and other joyless jobs, "Life in Hell" was born. Matt Groening - Biography - IMDb He found some work along those lines, whipping up slogans for horror movies, but also took on. Deborah Caplan: Net Worth: $600 million: Birth Place: Portland, OR: Nationality: American: Education: Evergreen State College: Father: Homer Philip Groening: Mother: [41] Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Six years later, after Groening penned an angry letter to the editor over the dismissal of a writer, the paper fired him by replacing his strip with another cartoonist's work while Groening was out of town on a book-signing tour for "Work Is Hell." Groening went to Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. His sister Maggie is not mute. He first sold his comic to magazine Wet, in 1978. "Teachers, principals, clergymen, politicians -- for the Simpsons, they're all goofballs, and I think that's a great message for kids." Matt Groening (1954-) biography on Film Reference. Ten years later, at the age of 46, Groening is responsible for a comic strip syndicated in 250 newspapers, more than 25 books, two prime-time animated series and untold containers full of valuable merchandise. The PJs (1999-2001) "Life in Hell" was also sold in the punk corner of the store, where the punks sometimes ripped them up. (After 13 years of marriage, Caplan filed for divorce in March 1999, the same month as Groening's second show, "Futurama," premiered. [109], He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988. By then, however, "Life in Hell" was running in several other alternative weeklies, and soon the L.A. Weekly brought him on board. They were created when James L. Brooks, the producer of "The Tracey Ullman Show," asked Mr. Groening to create animated segments for the program. [74] In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". [15] He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Matt Groening | Salon.com The following year he founded Zongo Comics to target mature comic readers. During this time he was the editor of college paper The Cooper Point Journal. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. "Who knew if this TV thing would pan out?" They had two sons together, Homer and Abe. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). Though the Tracy Ullman Show was soon cancelled, The Simpsons had gained popularity and earned its exclusive half an hour spin-off series. Groening also became a father of twins On June 16, 2018, when his wife Agustina gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, as reported via Instagram. Spouse/Ex-: Agustina Picasso, Deborah Caplan, siblings: Lisa Groening, Maggie Groening, Mark Groening, Patty Groening, children: Abe Groening, Homer Groening, Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, Ancestry: Norwegian American, Canadian American, Notable Alumni: The Evergreen State College, Founder/Co-Founder: Bongo Comics Group, Zongo Comics, The Curiosity Company, Quotes By Matt Groening | Groening grew up in Portland, Ore., with a father named Homer, a mother named Marge and sisters named Maggie and Lisa. His then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader Deborah Caplan offered to publish Love is Hell, a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. It sneaked up on everybody. ``Matt didn't particularly have a reputation for discipline,'' says Randy Michael Signor, a former Reader editor who today works in . Television and those who watch it are remorselessly lampooned. When he was asked by producer James L. Brooks to create animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show, Groening came up with The Simpsons. He donned the role of an executive producer for animated films Futurama: Bender's Game (2007), Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Futurama: Bender's Game (2008), and Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009). They divorced in 1999 and Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso in 2011. [62] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Then, no sooner had they ordered 13 episodes than the doubts set in. By high school, Groening had learned to channel his subversive leanings in a manner that engaged his classmates. The paper offered him a cartoon strip in 1980, and, surprised, Groening accepted. He then married Argentinian artist Augustina Picasso in 2011, after dating for four years. Creating 'The Simpsons:' How Matt Groening's Own Family Inspired the Characters, Matt Groening; Photo: Gary Moss/Corbis via Getty Images, Matt Groening with a cutout of Bart Simpson; Photo: Getty Images, James Cameron Keeps Smashing His Own Records, The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Tlcharger Livre Le Pays Basque d antan PDF Franais "Technically, I'm an agnostic, but I definitely believe in hell especially after watching the . They had 2 children. We're calling everybody's bluff. [73][29], Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. In 2013, the couple had a son named Nathaniel Philip Picasso. Groening was married to Deborah Caplan from 1986 to 1999. The details may vary, but the story, like most of the stories Groening tells about the defining moments in his life, reads like a fairy tale. [89] In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. Perhaps, were he to walk in off the street, he could get a job as a writer on the show. 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. In 2012, a 3-D short film based on The Simpsons was released with the title The Longest Daycare. Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) Matt Groening was the writer and executive producer of this project. Matt Groening is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and director. And for a guy whose career has been dedicated to skewering television, crass commercialism, "evil billionaire tyrants" (how boss Rupert Murdoch described himself in a cameo on "The Simpsons") and brainless consumers, Groening sure does love his merchandise. Matt Groening - Ethnicity of Celebs | EthniCelebs.com Matt Groening has made appearances in films and documentaries, such as, Comic Book: The Movie (2004), The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005), The Seventh Python (2008) and I Know That Voice (2013). "I'm a fan of counterculture -- of which there is very little right now," he told Fortune magazine. 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. "The success of the show," he has said, "has gone beyond my wildest dreams and worst nightmares.". Life in Hell comic strips were published in over 250 weekly papers and they were later collated in a series of books titled: School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. The show is watched by more than 60 million people weekly in more than 60 countries around the world -- beating out even the lowest-common-denominator friendly "Baywatch" as the world's most-watched show. Matt Groening Net Worth: Income & Career - Wealthy Peeps He notes with a chuckle that he has just received the lastest shipment of Simpsoniana: Bart golf balls. "That your moral authorities don't always have your best interests in mind," he told Mother Jones magazine. Groening won a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012. His mother, Margaret, though, used to have "huge hair.". Furthermore, the once-struggling artist was about to be presented with the business offer that would change his life forever. And judging from the success of "The Simpsons," what Americans hold most dear is disrespect itself. [92] In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. "Bart is like what would happen if Eddie Haskell got his own show," he said. Groening is a guy who lunches with Rupert Murdoch and finds him congenial. In high school, he drew cartoons for the school newspaper until he was kicked off the staff. 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. Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield". Some of the funniest jokes, he says, can only be caught on a still frame. ", "I had a real strong sense of drama as a kid," he said, "and I couldn't believe adults didn't remember what it was like to be a kid. Though Groening has continued to churn out his comic strip every week, it's been about a decade since he wrote an episode of "The Simpsons." Matt Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and have two children: Homer (who goes by the name of Will) and Abe. The goal of the company, she told Newsweek, was to "keep the machine of Matt going." "I wanted to write something they couldn't teach in high school because it had too much foul language," he said. [47], The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. ------------------------------------------. If you answered no, you are also probably a fan of Matt Groening. Were it not for the clueless executives, the inane network decisions, the petty betrayals at the hands of people who benefit from his success, he might have stagnated by now. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Deborah Caplan: Groening has been in a relationship with Deborah Caplan since 2006. Groening was one of four children. [96] In January 2022, Groening's tenth child Satori was born. He described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which became loosely inspired by the chapter How to Go to Hell in Walter Kaufmanns book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. TIL Matt Groening's parents were Homer and Margaret Groening. Indeed, the biggest danger the show seems to face is that it will lose its power to surprise. In 1984, Groening and his wife Deborah Caplan published his first "Life in Hell" book, called Love in Hell, and eventually set up a distribution company, Life in Hell Co., which handled the syndication and merchandise for all of Groening's projects. "Hey, they were right! He ran for student body president on the Teens for Decency ticket, with the tongue-in-cheek slogan, "If you're against decency, then what are you for?" During this time the show has done for animated cartoons what "thirtysomething" did for yuppies: proved that despite some annoying tendencies, they can be successful in prime time. Good Grief, Charlie Brown: A Tribute to Charles Schulz (since 2000) [82], In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell[83]) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. Or rather, he is the struggling, penurious pre-"Simpsons" Matt Groening. Writer/director Deborah Kaplan met partner, writer/director Harry Elfont, at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' prestigious film school. Matt Groening - Family, Family Tree - Celebrity Family - celebfamily One of his first employers was an aging B-movie director who needed help both getting around and writing his memoirs. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. Matthew Abram Groening ( / ren / GRAY-ning; born February 15, 1954) [1] is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. In 1988, James L. Brooks, looking for a filler in the television show, The Tracey Ullman Show (1987), turned towards a framed "Life in Hell" strip on his wall and contacted Groening. Despite the unprecedented success of "The Simpsons," the process of getting "Futurama" on the air has been described by Groening as "the worst experience of my adult life." [86] He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003[87] and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. Matt's grandfather Abram was born in Hillsboro, Kansas. Matt Groening received the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Primetime or Late Night Television Program for The Simpsons in the years 1998, 2000 and 2001. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. Futurama (1999-2013) His office at Fox has the frantic clutter of a teen-ager's bedroom. 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. He made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. So he resurrected a family he had created in high school as an answer to what he saw as the co-opting of "The Catcher in the Rye.". The Simpsons is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. 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. He also invited the off-the-wall submissions of campus cartoonists, finding himself inspired by the original works of fellow undergrad Lynda Barry. They said, 'It doesn't make any difference!'". Matt Groening. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. I think he kind of wants to prove, maybe to no one but himself, that he can do it without those guys.". He is a man of above-average stature. "Futurama" moved away from the family sitcom structure and into dysfunctional workplace territory, a subject that had long inspired Groening. 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. She died of heart failure on January 24, 2013. [27] He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. "), to the narrow mentality of newspaper editors (even "alternative" newpaper editors "hated" his approach to obscure rock criticism) to the "timidness" of network executives trying to subject him to "corporate deflavorizer," to his famous battles with network censors, Groening's life reads like a series of epic adventures more Quixotic than Homeric in their details. AT WORK WITH: Matt Groening; The Fun of Being Bart's Real Dad, https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/25/garden/at-work-with-matt-groening-the-fun-of-being-bart-s-real-dad.html. 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. Agustina is an Argentinian artist. By installment No. Matt Groening's income source is mostly from being a successful Cartoonist. [85], Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. "And to be honest, the whole 'Simpsons' project was a project to see how far I could go in the mainstream. [26][31], Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers,[15] typesetting, editing and answering phones. Matt Groening - Turner Classic Movies "I never saw anything as crude as my stuff getting published," he has said. The artist saw his first non-self-published comic appear in a 1978 issue of Wet magazine. Homer and Abe were their two sons. When he and former "Simpsons" show runner David X. Cohen (now the show runner on "Futurama") first approached Fox with the new idea, the network went into instant paroxysms of ecstasy. [69], In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, he created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. Groening worked at the Reader for six years, as a typesetter, editor, paste-up artist and rock critic. Hold out for as much money as you can get, but make the deal. Matt has a son with his wife, Argentinian artist Agustina Picasso, and two children with his former wife, Deborah Caplan. Reply. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July,[25] busing tables,[26] washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant,[27] and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director. [48] When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. AT WORK WITH: Matt Groening; The Fun of Being Bart's Real Dad The Groening Of America -- `Simpsons' Creator - The Seattle Times He was also given the responsibility of handling the papers music column for a short period. Anyone can read what you share. [18] Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration. Every week or so Mr. Groening gets a new offer to develop a movie or a cartoon or a situation comedy. After the two became romantically involved, she established a business to promote her future husband's work, negotiating syndication arrangements with other publications and a book deal with Pantheon. [8][50] Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. That year, he also began working for the alternative-weekly newspaper the L.A. Deborah Caplan-Matt Groening: 68: Aquarius: Cartoonist: American: Children Name Gender Born Age Other Parent; Homer: Male: 1991: 31 years old: Matt Groening: Abe: Male: 1993: 29 years old: Matt Groening: Discussions Have your say Be the first to make a comment >> Recommended Recommended. After their marriage, he became the stepfather of Augustina Picasso's daughter Camille. 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." Matt Groening - Wikipedia All Rights Reserved. If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, you are probably a fan of Matt Groening. The network resisted giving Groening the autonomy he needed and plied him with notes. His mission, Groening has said, was to create a sofa-centric sitcom about a typical American family and turn it upside down in retaliation for all the bad TV he watched as a kid. They said, 'Make it like "The Jetsons"! [16] A liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". 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. In 2004. Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. 1. [93] In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. "Of course, those are all true. ", Mr. Groening identifies closely with the oppressed children of America, sitting at their desks, waiting to cause trouble. [95] In 2020, their daughter Nirvana was born. [33] Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons. "If there's a message that runs through the show," he told The New York Times in 2001, well after he had become wealthy and influential beyond his wildest dreams, "it's that maybe the authorities don't have your best interests at heart.