Claim: Matt Groening created the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

Matthew Abraham `` Matt '' Groening -LRB- -LSB- ˈɡreɪnɪŋ -RSB- ; born February 15 , 1954 -RRB- is an American cartoonist , writer , producer , animator , and voice actor . He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell -LRB- 1977 -- 2012 -RRB- and the television series The Simpsons -LRB- 1989 -- present -RRB- and Futurama -LRB- 1999 -- 2003 , 2008 -- 2013 -RRB- . The Simpsons has gone on to become the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history , as well as the longest-running animated series and sitcom .   Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978 . At its peak , the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers . Life in Hell caught the attention of James L. Brooks . In 1985 , Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show . Originally , Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show . Fearing the loss of ownership rights , Groening decided to create something new and came up with a cartoon family , the Simpson family , and named the members after his own parents and sisters -- while Bart was an anagram of the word brat . The shorts would be spun off into their own series The Simpsons , which has since aired episodes . In 1997 , Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama , an animated series about life in the year 3000 , which premiered in 1999 , running for four years on Fox , then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons .   Groening has won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards , ten for The Simpsons and two for Futurama as well as a British Comedy Award for `` outstanding contribution to comedy '' in 2004 . In 2002 , he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell . He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14 , 2012 .