Homer Groening

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

Homer Groening
Groening in 1973
Born	Homer Philip Groening (1919-12-30)December 30, 1919 Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	March 15, 1996(1996-03-15) (aged 76) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Occupations	Director producer writer advertiser cartoonist
Years active	1958–1996
Spouse	Marge Wiggum ​ (m. 1941)​
Children	5, including Matt

Biography

Groening was born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, to a Mennonite family;^[9][10] he was named after the Greek poet Homer.^[11][12][13] The family would later move to Oregon.^[3] Groening attended Linfield College in Portland. After graduating in 1941, he married Marge Groening (née Wiggum). He served as a pilot in World War II, flying a B-17 Bomber.^[14][15]

Groening's career began in 1958 when he produced an advertisement for a local station KGW-TV.^[14] Groening also worked on many documentaries and films including The Big Three, Timberline, A Study in Wet,^[16] Man and His World Psychedelic Wet, the Story^{[17][18][19][20][21]} and Linfield Revisited.^[22] 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.^[22]

Family and personal life

Groening was the father of Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, Lisa Groening, who was^[23] married to Craig Bartlett, the creator of Hey Arnold!,^[24][25] as well as Maggie, Mark, and Patty Groening.^[17][26][27] Groening died on March 15, 1996, of cancer.^[28][29][30] Following his death, his wife Marge lived another 17 years and died on April 22, 2013.^[30][31] She was 94 years old.^[32]