Seth MacFarlane

Biography: A Star Trek-watching, show tune-singing, entertainment-obsessed fanboy, MacFarlane began drawing cartoons at 2 years old and was publishing his own comic strip in his hometown newspaper by the age of 8. Sure of what he wanted to do for a living, the New England-born animator landed a job with Hanna-Barbera straight out of art school, drawing storyboards and writing scripts for such series as Dexter's Laboratory and Johnny Bravo. Fox soon approached him about creating his own show, and in 1999 the cult favorite Family Guy was born. With offbeat characters (many of whom were voiced by MacFarlane, who won a 2000 Emmy for his voice work), wall-to-wall pop-culture references and outrageous, politically incorrect humor that sparked all kinds of complaints, the cartoon sitcom had a rocky road and was canceled in 2002. But its surprisingly robust DVD sales prompted the network to give it another go in 2005, and MacFarlane continued his domination of Fox's Sunday-night animation blockA Star Trek-watching, show tune-singing, entertainment-obsessed fanboy, MacFarlane began drawing cartoons at 2 years old and was publishing his own comic strip in his hometown newspaper by the age of 8. Sure of what he wanted to do for a living, the New England-born animator landed a job with Hanna-Barbera straight out of art school, drawing storyboards and writing scripts for such series as Dexter's Laboratory and Johnny Bravo. Fox soon approached him about creating his own show, and in 1999 the cult favorite Family Guy was born. With offbeat characters (many of whom were voiced by MacFarlane, who won a 2000 Emmy for his voice work), wall-to-wall pop-culture references and outrageous, politically incorrect humor that sparked all kinds of complaints, the cartoon sitcom had a rocky road and was canceled in 2002. But its surprisingly robust DVD sales prompted the network to give it another go in 2005, and MacFarlane continued his domination of Fox's Sunday-night animation block with American Dad that same year and The Cleveland Show in 2009. Off screen, MacFarlane is a talented pianist.… Expand