Matt Groening

Matt Groening married Deborah Caplan in 1986. The couple has two sons, Homer and Abe. Matt and Deborah separated in 1999.

In 2011, he married artist Augustina Picasso, with whom he had been in a relationship for four years. After marriage, he became step father to Augustina Picasso’s daughter Camille. In 2013, the couple had a son named Nathaniel Philip Picasso.

Matt Groening was born on 15 February 1954, at Portland, in Oregon, USA. His father, Homer Philip Groening, was a writer, filmmaker and advertiser and his mother, Margaret Ruth, was a teacher.

He grew up in Portland and did his schooling from the Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. In 1972, he enrolled at the Evergreen State College in Olympia and studied there for five years.

During this time he was the editor of college paper ‘The Cooper Point Journal’. He used to write articles and draw cartoon illustrations for the journal. While at college, he befriended famous cartoonist Lynda Barry, whom he also regards as a great inspiration.

Matt Groening has stated that he was inspired to draw cartoons after watching the animation movie ‘One Hundred and One Dalmatians’. His other role model was cartoonist, Charles Monroe Schulz, who was known for his comic creation ‘Peanuts’.

After graduation, Matt Groening moved to Los Angeles, in 1977, with the aim of becoming a writer. However, he began doing a series of odd jobs while at the city. It was at this time that he began drawing cartoons for his self-published book titled ‘Life in Hell’, which was based on his struggles and featured ‘Binky’ an oppressed rabbit. He first sold his comic to magazine ‘Wet’, in 1978.

Later, he got employed at an alternative newspaper Los Angeles Reader, and here with the support of his supervisor, Matt Groening was able to officially publish ‘Life in Hell’ as his first comic strip, in 1980. He was also given the responsibility of handling the paper’s music column for a short period. The comic strip ‘Life in Hell’ was a huge success.

In 1984, certain relationship themed strips from his work were published by co- worker Deborah Caplan, as a book titled’ Love in Hell’. The book became a success with over 20000 copies being sold in its initial two printings. Following this success, came his next work, ‘Work is Hell’, also published by Deborah Caplan.

The duo left the newspaper company and Matt Groening founded the Acme Features Syndicate that distributed ‘Life in Hell’. Life in Hell’ comic strips were published in over 250 weekly papers and they were later collated in a series of books titled: ‘School is Hell’, ‘Childhood is Hell’, ‘The Big Book of Hell’, and ‘The Huge Book of Hell’.

The strip continued to be published in the LA Weekly until 2009, when they were unable to pay Matt Groening anymore. Even to this date, it continues to appear in many other alternative newspapers.

Matt Groening is well known for his cartoon characters, comic strips and animated television series. He rose to fame with the comic strip ‘Life in Hell’; and his animated television series ‘The Simpsons’.