Terminally Ill ‘Simpsons’ Co-Creator Vows to Give Away Fortune

Sam Simon faces down his terminal cancer diagnosis by spending his vast fortune (how much? "I don't know") on animal rights and feeding the hungry: "I get pleasure from it. I love it."

“It’s very smart for big charities to get their donor involved and get some hands-on experience and see what they really do,” notes Simon, who left the The Simpsons in 1993 to create the Malibu-based Sam Simon Foundation that rescues the hungry (humans -- but with vegan foods only) and strays (dogs, of any variety) — with his dogs, Gerti (left), an Irish wolfhound, and Colombo, a Cane Corso, at his Malibu home — about how he got hooked into donating to his causes. “I like direct action. I don’t like petitions.”

“It’s very smart for big charities to get their donors involved and get some hands-on experience and see what they really do,” notes Simon, who left The Simpsons in 1993 to create the Malibu-based Sam Simon Foundation that rescues the hungry (humans -- but with vegan foods only) and strays (dogs, of any variety). He was photographed with his dogs, Gerti (left), an Irish wolfhound, and Colombo, a Cane Corso, at his Malibu home. “I like direct action. I don’t like petitions," he says.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. On March 9, 2015, Sam Simon’s foundation announced that the producer and philanthropist had passed away. 

Called both “brilliantly funny” and “mentally unbalanced” by Simpsons co-creator Matt Groening, television writer-producer Sam Simon, 58, has become known throughout Hollywood for his philanthropy since leaving the iconic animated series in 1993 (he retained a highly lucrative executive producer title). A Stanford grad who grew up in Beverly Hills and Malibu — and rose in the industry at a young age to become the showrunner of Taxi at 24 — Simon confesses, “I don’t know,” when it comes to estimating his charitable donations to date.

His contributions include founding the Malibu-based Sam Simon Foundation (worth nearly $23 million as of 2011) that rescues the hungry (humans — but with vegan foods only) and strays (dogs, of any variety). His other pet charities include PETA, which in February thanked him for his support by naming its Norfolk, Va., headquarters the Sam Simon Center; international nonprofit Save the Children; and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a global marine conservation organization. His contributions led it to name one of the four ships in its fleet of vessels, used to hinder whaling and illegal fishing, the M/Y Simon in 2012. He also turned a Malibu spread into a canine haven that rescues dogs from kill shelters and trains them as companions for the deaf.