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Who is Sam Simon, the late ex-husband of RHOBH’s Jennifer Tilly? The Simpsons co-creator grew up across the street from Elvis Presley, married the actress in 1989, and left his fortune to charity
STORYFaye Bradley
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills newbie Jennifer Tilly has said she still makes money from The Simpsons thanks to her late ex-husband Sam Simon, who co-created the iconic show back in 1989
Jennifer Tilly isn’t just making money from the animated sitcom Family Guy. In addition to voicing Bonnie Swanson on the show, the 66-year-old revealed that she also makes bank from The Simpsons, thanks to her late ex-husband, Sam Simon, who co-created the iconic Fox series with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks in 1989.
“My ex-husband was Sam Simon, who created The Simpsons,” she said on a recent episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. “I was married to him for seven years, we were together for about 10 years. When we got divorced, I got a piece of The Simpsons in the divorce settlement.”
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“Nobody knew that The Simpsons was going to go on for trillions of years. So every day – honestly, every day – I’m like, ‘Thank you, Sam,’” she added.
Tilly and Simon divorced in 1991, and Deadline adds that Tilly got 30 per cent of Simon’s proceeds from the hit series in the divorce. According to Celebrity Net Worth, it’s estimated that Tilly gets around US$6 million to US$10 million in Simpsons royalties every year.
Here’s what we know about her late ex-husband, whose work has contributed to her bank balance:
What is Sam Simon’s background?
According to his obituary in The Guardian, Sam Simon was born on June 6, 1955, in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Beverly Hills, where his neighbours included Elvis Presley and Groucho Marx. He worked as a newspaper cartoonist while he was at Stanford University and went on to join Filmation Studios as a storyboard artist after graduating.