He was most famous for being the silent member of The Simpsons triumvirate when the little-cartoon-that-could became its own show on Fox. However there was much more to Sam and his career.
Originally he began in animation with Filmation working on Fat Albert so his knowledge in cartoon production helped enormously given Brooks only knowing live action and Groening doing weekly newspaper strips. He was also known for being the youngest show runner in history with the last season of Taxi. There other numerous credits Sam has for writing, directing and producing: Cheers, Friends, Barney Miller, It’s Garry Shandling Show, The Tracey Ullman Show, The Drew Carey Show and highly underrated Best of the West.
We all heard about how his arrangement from The Simpsons that made him independently wealthy. Afterwards he only worked if he felt like it. What separated Sam from other people who landed a fortune was his character. He never became an asshole, he donated heavily to charity and when he knew his life would end soon from cancer, Sam made sure all his money would be allocated to what he held dear, namely animals and environment.
It’s a shame someone as nice and creative as he was didn’t live longer while CEO (thieves in suits with MBAs) are the ones the SCLM can’t praise enough.
Thanks Mr. Simon for all your work. From the Saturday morning fun you contributed to through the laughter during Prime Time.