Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954) is an American
cartoonist and television producer and writer from
Portland, Oregon. Groening is best known as the creator of
The Simpsons . He is also the creator of the comic
Life in Hell and co-creator of
Futurama.
Life in Hell caught the attention of
James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in
animation for the
FOX variety show
The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his
Life in Hell characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening decided to create something new and came up with a cartoon family,
the Simpsons and named the members after his own family, except Bart, which was an anagram of the word brat. The shorts would be spun off into their own series:
The Simpsons, which has since aired over 400 episodes in 19 seasons. In 1997, Groening got together with
David X. Cohen and developed
Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. After four years on the air, the show was cancelled by Fox, but
Comedy Central commissioned 16 new episodes to be aired in 2008. Groening has won 10
Primetime Emmy Awards, nine for
The Simpsons and one for
Futurama as well as a
British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the
National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on
Life in Hell.
