The animation community mourns the passing of Emmy-winning writer Dan McGrath who worked on some of the more memorable episodes of The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Mission Hill on Friday, Nov. 14 at age 61. The cause of death was a stroke, according to his sister Gail McGrath Garbadian.
“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,” wrote his sister on Facebook.
McGrath, who was born on July 20, 1964, in Brooklyn, studied east Asian studies at Harvard University, and like many Simpsons alums through the years, worked on the university’s humor publication The Harvard Lampoon. He began his TV career as writer on Saturday Night Live in 1991, where he worked with the likes of Adam Sandler and Chris Farley.
He moved on to The Simpsons in 1992, and won an Emmy for working on the acclaimed Season 8 episode of the show “Homer’s Phobia.” In the episode, Homer dissociates himself from a gay family friend (voiced by John Waters) in fear that Bart will become gay if he spends time with him. It received praise from GLAAD for its anti-homophobia message. Among this other popular episodes of the show were “The Devil and Homer Simpson,” “Time and Punishment” and “Bart of Darkness.”
Over the past three decades, he also wrote for Gravity Falls, King of the Hill, The PJs, Sammy and Muppets Tonight. He received a Writers Guild award for his work on a 2008 episode of King of the Hill titled “Life a User’s Manual.”
McGrath is survived by his mother, Eleanor; his brother Michael and wife Caroline; his brother Peter; his sister, Gail; his nephew Dillon and his nieces Kylie and Emma. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Regis High School.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter
