# Sam Simon of "The Simpsons" Dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624 "2015-03-09T19:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/1 "2015-03-09T19:30:00Z")
[Story Here](http://www.imdb.com/news/ni58375027?ref_=hm_nw_tp2) First Nemoy and now him? Cancer’s a bitch man ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/2 "2015-03-09T20:33:51Z")
From the Variety story: > [@](#): > > But Simon was also a devoted philanthropist. An animal lover, he funded the Sam Simon Foundation, which rescued dogs, funded a traveling animal surgery clinic assisting the ailing pets of those who otherwise could not afford medical attention for them and provided vegan food for hungry humans. He also supported PETA, which named its Norfolk, Va., HQ the Sam Simon Center; Save the Children; and global marine conservation organization the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which named one of its vessels after him. > > After being diagnosed with colon cancer, Simon started buying zoos and circuses to free animals. > > Simon received the WGA’s Valentine Davies Award for his humanitarian work. I’m not going to hold the PETA thing against him. You have to admire someone willing to spend his last days/years helping others. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/3 "2015-03-09T23:00:08Z")
he faced his last years well. he left the world a huge legacy. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/4 "2015-03-10T00:09:34Z")
I’m at work to check, but is he the one who was married to Jennifer Tilly during the 1980’s and gave away millions of his money? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/5 "2015-03-10T00:12:55Z")
Yes, he is. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/6 "2015-03-10T02:55:04Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > First Nemoy and now him? Cancer’s a bitch man Hate to nitpick, but Nimoy died from COPD, not cancer. Didn’t even know Simon was sick. R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/7 "2015-03-10T03:02:16Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Didn’t even know Simon was sick. R.I.P. about 2 years ago he was diagnosed with possibly only months to live. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/8 "2015-03-10T03:11:01Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Hate to nitpick, but Nimoy died from COPD, not cancer. > > Didn’t even know Simon was sick. R.I.P. Yup you’re right. I read that Simon died of Cancer, then I remembered Nemoy died from complications of smoking, and cancer was the first thing that popped into my head ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/9 "2015-03-10T14:11:17Z")
Him being a philanthropist solves a question I’ve wondered about for nearly 20 years now. In a mid-nineties episode of _The Simpsons_ where Troy McClure hosts a retrospective about the series they show cartoon shots of Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon. One of them, I forget if it was Groening or Brooks, they animated as a cantankerous old hillbilly drinking whiskey and threatening the camera with a revolver (_“Git out o’ my office!!”_) but Sam Simon they just showed as the \*Monopoly \*man, Rich Uncle Pennybags… ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/10 "2015-03-10T14:37:37Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > One of them, I forget if it was Groening or Brooks, they animated as a cantankerous old hillbilly drinking whiskey and threatening the camera with a revolver (_“Git out o’ my office!!”_) but Sam Simon they just showed as the \*Monopoly \*man, Rich Uncle Pennybags… The cantankerous hillbilly was Groening. Mr. Moneybags was actually James L. Brooks. Sam Simon’s drawing was a Howard Hughes-like caricature [as shown in this article.](http://www.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Tube/articles/-zs8lAZ2GCG/5+Essential+Sam+Simon+Contributions+Simpsons) Simon actually drew it himself, after he didn’t like the writers’ original idea (they merely had an image saying “No Photo Available” as sort of a gag referring to how Sam Simon had dropped off everyone’s radar by then.) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/11 "2015-03-10T14:44:15Z")
He was on Marc Maron’s podcast in 2013 and it was really touching. What an incredible guy. > **[Episode 389 - Sam Simon — WTF with Marc Maron Podcast](http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_389_-_sam_simon)** > > Marc travels to the home of Sam Simon, co-creator of The Simpsons, producer/show-runner on Taxi, and facilitator of countless television projects. They talk about Sam’s cancer diagnosis and what has changed in his life since finding out. Marc and Sam... ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-of-the-simpsons-dies/714624/12 "2015-03-16T01:13:04Z")
Tonight the Simpsons, during the credits, put video of him saying that he enjoyed doing the show. Then they said he was a comic genius. Then they thanked him.