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Quick Facts
- NAME: Matt Groening
- OCCUPATION: Comedian, Television Producer, Screenwriter
- BIRTH DATE: February 15, 1954 (Age: 59)
- EDUCATION: Evergreen State College
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Portland, Oregon
- ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius
Best Known For
Matt Groening is a cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons, the longest-running entertainment series in prime time television.
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Play NowMatt Groening. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:36, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573.
Matt Groening. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573 [Accessed 22 May 2013].
"Matt Groening." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 09:36 http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573.
"Matt Groening," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573 [accessed May 22, 2013].
"Matt Groening," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573 (accessed May 22, 2013).
Matt Groening [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573.
Matt Groening, http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573 (last visited May 22, 2013).
Matt Groening. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573. Accessed May 22, 2013.
If The Simpsons has any single theme, Groening has said, it is "that your moral authorities don't always have your best interests in mind." The satire took aim at teachers, parents, ministers, police officers and other authority figures, all of whom are often portrayed as small-minded buffoons. The show's iconoclastic approach garnered criticism from family-values advocates, but won it rabid devotion from its fans. Now in its third decade on the air,
the show has earned 10 Emmy Awards and the title of the longest-running entertainment series in prime time. Generations of comedy writers (a young Conan O'Brien notable among them) have cut their teeth on the show's distinctive jokes and pop-culture references. More than 20 million viewers tuned in for the 20th anniversary episode in January 2010.
Recent Projects
In 1997, hoping to build on the success of The Simpsons, Groening created Futurama, a second animated series for the Fox network. It was canceled after four years, but maintained a strong cult following among fans. In 2009, Comedy Central announced that it would relaunch the series on the cable network the following year. The revived Futurama picked up the 2011 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.
Groening married Deborah Caplan in 1986 and had two sons, Homer and Abe. The couple divorced in 1999. In 2011, Groening reportedly wed longtime girlfriend, Argentinian artist Agustina Picasso. Groening's extended family has good-naturedly accepted the fame that comes from sharing a name with some of the best-loved characters on television. The older Homer Groening, Matt's father, died in 1996, but Margaret (not Marge) Groening still often fields prank calls at her Portland home from people asking for "Bart."
Still an active cartoonist, Groening formed the comic book publisher Bongo Comics Group in 1994. He collects unofficial Simpsons merchandise, and has grown accustomed to his dedicated fans and their sometimes unorthodox ways of showing their devotion. "Oftentimes," he said, "what seems to be a street lunatic charging at me spouting gibberish turns out to be a devoted Simpsons fan quoting their favorite line."
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
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