Though it is Matt Groening who is best known as the creator of the yellow family from Springfield, USA, Sam Simon's "The Simpsons" role was just about as important, as he developed the show with Groening and James L. Brooks - long before it became the longest-running animated series of all time, airing since 1989.
Though it is Sam Simon's "The Simpsons" role that's best known, he had been working in Hollywood for about a decade before pitching the animated show to the Fox Broadcasting Company; the writer, producer and director also worked in the 80s shows "Taxi," "Cheers" and even "The Tracey Ullman Show" - which is where "The Simpsons" was born.
According to Variety, Sam Simon's "The Simpsons" stint was more than successful, gathering him an amazing 7 Primetime Emmy Awards; besides co-creating the show, he was one of the show's writers since the show's start until 1993, when he left the writing team but retained a job as an executive producer.
As Polygon reports, Sam Simon's "The Simpsons" revenue continued to stack up even when he was no longer writing, and he reportedly made between $20 and $30 million annually, as his contract also included the show's future earnings.
The New York Times reports that the multi-talented man didn't hoard Sam Simon's "The Simpsons" earnings, as in 2013, upon hearing news that he had colon cancer, he announced his intention of giving most of his money away to charity, saying he'd already done so at the time and that he wouldn't receive anymore money until getting his quarterly installment for the show.
Considering "The Simpsons" is probably the show that has featured the most celebrity cameos (from Elizabeth Taylor to Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga and even Benedict Cumberbatch), it's no surprise that, upon hearing of Simon's death, celebrities poured in with their respects: Larry King, Ricky Gervais, Jason Biggs and Alyssa Milano were just a few stars who took to Twitter to talk about his death.
It is unclear whether there'll be a Sam Simon "The Simpsons" homage this season or the next.
