LEGENDARY The Simpsons writer Dan McGrath has died at the age of 61, his family announced.
The award-winning comedy writer, who also worked on Saturday Night Live, died following a stroke, his sister said.
Gail Garabadian wrote on Facebook: “We lost my incredible brother Danny yesterday. He was a special man, one of a kind.
“An incredible son, brother, uncle and friend. Our hearts are broken.”
She told Hollywood Reporter that he passed away at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn.
Dan kicked off his career at SNL, when he often collaborated with Adam Sandler.
He then had two stints as a writer for The Simpsons, followed by eight years on King of the Hill.
He went on to win an Emmy for writing the iconic 1997 Simpsons episode Homer’s Phobia.
The episode sees Homer befriending an antiques dealer, and later discovering he is gay.
It was also honoured by GLAAD – which promotes fairness in media – for its anti-homophobia message.
Dan is survived by his wife Caroline, his mother, Eleanor and siblings as well as nieces and nephews.
The writer cut his teeth on Harvard University’s student comedy publication, The Harvard Lampoon.
He landed a job for Saturday Night Live in 1991, and stayed there for two seasons.
During that time, he shared an Emmy nomination.
He began working on The Simpsons in 1992, and wrote 50 episodes across two years.
Dan later received producing credits on 24 episodes from 1996-98.
His most memorable episodes include The Devil and Homer Simpson, Time and Punishment, Bart of Darkness, instalments of the Treehouse of Horror series, Boy-Scoutz ’n the Hood and Homer’s Phobia.
Dan said that both his runs with the show ended with him being fired.
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