Sam Simon, co-creator of The Simpsons, has died after a long and public battle with colon cancer. He was 59.
Coming up through the ranks as a writer on classic sitcoms like Taxi and Cheers, Simon was tasked with co-adapting the short Simpsons cartoons that aired during The Tracey Ullman Show — on which he was a writer and producer — into a full-fledged TV series. Working alongside Matt Groening and producer James L. Brooks, Simon served as an executive producer and showrunner on The Simpsons during its early years, and is credited as the writer of classic early episodes like "The Telltale Head," "Some Enchanted Evening," and "The Way We Was." Simon left the show in 1993, but is still credited as an executive producer on every episode — a lucrative deal that has netted him tens of millions of dollars.
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