![]() ![]() Following a profile of Simon on 60 Minutes in 2007, CBS writer Daniel Schorn wrote in an online article that Simon was "perhaps the Renaissance man of the baffling, uncertain age we live in." Simon was engaged at the time of his death, having been previously twice married, including to the actress Jennifer Tilly. He also funded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel MY Sam Simon. Simon founded the Sam Simon Foundation, which consists of a mobile veterinary clinic that goes into low-income neighborhoods offering free surgeries for cats and dogs several days per week, as well as a program that rescues and trains shelter dogs. ![]() He regularly appeared on Howard Stern's radio shows, managed boxer Lamon Brewster and helped guide him to the World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Championship in 2004, and was a regular poker player and six-time in the money finisher at the World Series of Poker. Simon turned to fields outside television in his later years. Over the next few years, Simon wrote and produced for Cheers, It's Garry Shandling's Show and other programs, as well as writing the 1991 film The Super. Simon submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was produced, and he later became the series' showrunner. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. Now, as Simon has crossed his own Rainbow Bridge, he’s doubtless got a lot of furry friends waiting for him.Samuel Michael Simon (June 6, 1955 – March 8, 2015) was an American director, producer, writer, animal rights activist and philanthropist, who co-developed the television series The Simpsons. There sits an urn with his ashes, with the inscription, “Good friend, Bad dog.” The phrase is tongue in cheek - next to the urn is a photo with Lono surrounded by feathers. “It’s well spent just for the pleasure it gives me, honestly,” he told 60 Minutes.Īmidst all his wealth and his stunning art collection, Simon kept the place above the mantel in his home reserved for his first dog, Lono. Somewhere “in the millions of dollars” per year. He didn’t even know how much it all cost. Plus, the foundation also runs a pet visitation program, where dogs training to be service dogs visit assisted living homes in the surrounding neighborhood, bringing a bit of joy to seniors while also giving the dogs socialization skills.Īnd who had paid for all this? The foundation does not accept donations, according to 60 Minutes - Sam Simon paid for everything. According to the 60 Minutes piece, the clinic can take on 30 dogs a day. The Sam Simon Foundation also runs a mobile veterinary clinic, which travels throughout Los Angeles, providing a variety of free surgeries to cats and dogs belonging to low-income families. Those dogs who cannot complete the foundation’s service dog programs and become certified assistant dogs, for one reason or another, are offered up for adoption. It has programs that train service dogs for veterans and that train hearing dogs for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. According to the foundation’s website, all the dogs come from California animal shelters and are trained to be service dogs. ![]() The profile paints a wonderful picture of Sam and the shelter he created. Here, among the waterfalls and the manicured grounds, the Sam Simon Foundation gives stray and abandoned dogs a new lease on life, literally.” This one runs the grandest dog shelter in the country, a five star, six-acre spread in Malibu, perhaps the most desirable real estate on the planet. As the 60 Minutes profile put it: “Simon is not just any dog nut. The Sam Simon Foundation was, of course, not just any dog foundation. We take comfort in knowing how many greetings he is receiving across that Rainbow Bridge. We all miss him, and in his honor, we will continue bringing his vision to light through our work at The Sam Simon Foundation. It is with much sadness that we must let you know that Sam Simon has passed over. ![]()
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