Homer Groening

Last updated
Homer Groening
Born(1919-12-30)December 30, 1919
DiedMarch 15, 1996(1996-03-15) (aged 76)
Occupation(s)Director, producer, writer, advertiser, cartoonist
Years active1958-1996
Spouse
Marge Wiggum
(m. 1941)
Children5, including Matt

Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 - March 15, 1996) was a Canadian-American filmmaker, advertiser, writer, and cartoonist. [1] [2] He was also the father of Matt Groening and inspired the names of Homer Simpson and Philip J. Fry. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Groening was known for work on many different types of short films. [9] [10]

Contents

Biography

Groening was born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada to a German-speaking Mennonite family; [11] [12] he was named after the Greek poet Homer. [13] [14] [15] The family would later move to Oregon. [16] Groening would later attend Linfield University, and, in 1941, marry Marge Wiggum. Homer later would serve in World War II and flew a B-17. [17] [18]

Groening's career began in 1958 when he produced an advertisement for a local station KGW-TV. [17] Groening also worked on many documentaries and films including The Big Three, Timberline, A Study in Wet, [19] Man and His World Psychedelic Wet, the Story [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] and Linfield Revisited. [25]

Groening also was a cartoonist. On April 28, 1962, the New Yorker ran an advertisement written by Groening. Groening also worked on several comic strips. [25]

Family and personal life

Groening is the father of Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, Lisa Groening, who is married to Craig Bartlett the creator of Hey Arnold!, [26] [27] as well as Maggie, Mark, and Patty Groening. [20] [28] [29]

Groening died on March 15, 1996, of cancer. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]

In 2013, Groening's wife Marge died at the age of 94. [37] [38] [39]

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References

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