Sam Simon is a name you have probably seen on your television set hundreds, if not thousands of times, but you might not be able to pick his face out of a lineup. Between 1979 and 1993, Sam Simon was one of the most influential television writers and producers in the world. He left indelible marks on two of the most classic sitcoms of all time: Cheers and Taxi. Later in his career, Simon also helped produce and direct hits like The Drew Carey Show, Friends, House of Cards, and Anger Management. Oh, he also co-developed and executive produced on a little show called The Simpsons. Impressively, Sam only worked on The Simpsons over four seasons, yet he still earns tens of millions of dollars every year off residuals, to this day.
Perhaps even more impressive, after essentially retiring at the age of 38, Simon dedicated his life to philanthropy with a special focus on animal-related causes. Sadly, in late 2012, Sam was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer and given 3-6 months to live. He ended up living for over two years. Unfortunately, Sam died earlier today at the age of 59. Throughout his life, Sam was one of the most famous and active animal rights advocates in the world. In the last years of his life, he literally gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to various animal charities. He was a truly incredible person, and the world will miss him. This is his inspirational life story…
Sam Simon and Jennifer Tilly / Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Biography of Sam Simon
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Sam Simon |
| Date of Birth | June 6, 1955 |
| Date of Death | March 8, 2015 |
| Occupation | Television Writer, Producer, Philanthropist |
| Notable Works | The Simpsons, Cheers, Taxi |
| Philanthropic Focus | Animal Rights |
Sam Simon grew up in Beverly Hills, California, on a street where his neighbors included Groucho Marx and Elvis Presley. He was recruited to play football at Stanford but quit the team after his first practice. Instead of playing football, Simon became the cartoonist for the Stanford student newspaper. While still an undergrad, he was hired by both the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner newspapers as a sports cartoonist. This early passion for cartoons landed him his first job after college at a Los Angeles-based animation studio called Filmation.
At Filmation, Simon worked as a storyboard artist on the cartoon "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids." In 1981, a friend encouraged him to submit an unsolicited "spec" script to the creator of the hit show "Taxi." Incredibly, the producers loved his script so much that they not only turned it into a full episode, but they also hired Sam as a full-time writer. He was just 26 years old. By 1983, at the age of 30, Simon had risen to the level of showrunner, making him the youngest network television showrunner of all time until 26-year-old Josh Schwartz ran "The O.C." in 2003. After "Taxi" ended, Sam worked as a staff writer on the first three seasons of another little sitcom called "Cheers."
Origins of The Simpsons
"Taxi" was created and executive produced by the prolific writer/director/producer James L. Brooks. In 1987, while serving as executive producer on The Tracey Ullman Show, Brooks had an idea: he wanted to feature short animations when coming in and out of commercials. For one of the cartoons, Brooks reached out to animator Matt Groening, whose "Life in Hell" series was syndicated in newspapers around the country. The first concept was to create an animated version of the "Life in Hell" strips. However, after learning that he would be forced to rescind his life's work's publishing rights, Groening decided to pitch a brand new series at the last minute. The short series Groening pitched revolved around a dysfunctional family called "The Simpsons." Tracey Ullman cast members Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner volunteered to provide voices for cartoon parents Homer and Marge Simpson.
After running as short animated bumpers for two years on The Tracey Ullman Show, audiences were demanding to see more of The Simpson family. James L. Brooks paired Matt Groening with his old friend Sam Simon, setting them out to develop "The Simpsons" into a full-time, half-hour show. On December 17, 1989, "The Simpsons" premiered on Fox. Twenty-four seasons later, "The Simpsons" has produced 528 episodes and is considered one of the greatest television shows of all time. Tracey Ullman, whose show was canceled in 1990, even tried unsuccessfully to sue for a piece of "The Simpsons" after it became a worldwide phenomenon.
Sam Simon was the creative driving force behind the early days of "The Simpsons." He served as creative supervisor and hired the entire first writing staff. Simon also helped design the fictional world of Springfield and created characters like Mr. Burns, Chief Wiggum, Bleeding Gums Murphy, and Dr. Hibbert, to name a few. Simon never believed the show would last, so his goal for the first season was simply to create 13 episodes that his friends would find funny. This mindset gave the writing staff the freedom to do whatever they wanted on those early episodes, arguably leading to the show's vast appeal among both old and young audiences.
Cashing In on Success
When Sam offered to leave the show, he didn't walk away empty-handed. He shrewdly negotiated a deal that would allow him to retain his backend points on the show's syndication and home video sales as well as his executive producer credit. In 1993, home video was basically a non-existent market, so Sam would have been forgiven had he relinquished that seemingly worthless deal point. Fast forward twenty years, and we know that "The Simpsons" is one of the most popular and successful syndication, DVD, and VHS properties in Hollywood history. As of May 2013, "The Simpsons" had sold over 25 million DVDs, generating over a billion dollars in revenue. The syndication of "The Simpsons" has brought in another billion dollars, with another billion anticipated in the future.
To this day, twenty years after leaving the show, Sam Simon is still credited on every episode of "The Simpsons" as an executive producer. So how does that impact Mr. Simon's bank account? When you combine backend syndication, home video/DVD sales, and his executive producer credit, Sam earns an estimated $20-30 million every year off "The Simpsons." That's $20-30 million per year from a show he hasn't worked on since 1993. In total, Sam Simon has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from "The Simpsons" royalties. Ironically, he admitted in a recent interview that he hasn't even watched the show in years.
Philanthropy and Lasting Impact
After retiring in 1993 at the age of 38, no one would have blamed Sam if he spent the next twenty years partying. Actually, he did marry a Playmate named Jami Ferrell, but their union lasted only three weeks. His other marriage was to actress Jennifer Tilly from 1984 to 1991. Sam and Jennifer are still close friends, and he is currently engaged to chef Jenna Stewart.
Sam traveled all over the world, not just to party. Over the last 20 years, he became one of the most altruistic and generous supporters of many philanthropic causes, especially those related to animals. He has donated so much money to PETA that they named their world headquarters after him. He has also contributed significantly to the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd, which named its flagship boat the "SS Sam Simon."
Through his charity, The Sam Simon Foundation, he feeds over 200 hungry families in Los Angeles two vegan meals a day, every single day! The foundation also runs a six-acre luxury dog rescue in Malibu. After being diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in late 2012, Simon heroically spent the next two years donating his entire net worth to charity. When asked about his fortune after his passing on a podcast, Simon explained, "I've given most of it away... I won't be rich until we get [my next] quarterly installment from The Simpsons!"
At another point, Sam encouraged everyone to help the
