Sad news: TMZ is reporting that television writer/director/producer and Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 59 after a battle with cancer. Simon revealed on an episode of WTF back in 2013 that he was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, and since then he’s been donating nearly all of his Simpsons fortune to hunger and animal rights causes. He also teamed up with ABC News and Fusion last summer for an in-the-works documentary about the final months of his life. In addition to his work on The Simpsons, Simon has also written, directed, and produced for Cheers, Taxi, The Tracey Ullman Show, The George Carlin Show, and The Drew Carey Show and founded his own animal rights organization, the Sam Simon Foundation, in 2007.
‘The Simpsons’ Co-Creator Sam Simon Dies at 59
