Seth MacFarlane

**Seth Woodbury MacFarlane** (born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, director, producer, and voice actor. He is best known for creating the animated television series, _Family Guy_, _American Dad!_, and _The Cleveland Show._

## Early years and beginning of _Family Guy_

MacFarlane went to Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a school in Rhode Island where he studied animation. He made a short cartoon movie named, _The Life of Larry_ during his senior year. He worked at Hanna-Barbera writing and making episodes of _Johnny Bravo_. FOX, a media network, saw _The Life of Larry_ and offered him $50,000 to make a pilot.

### Political views

MacFarlane is a supporter for the Democratic Party. In 2015, MacFarlane revealed support for Bernie Sanders on the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and he introduced Sanders on a Los Angeles rally.

### September 11 attacks

On the morning of September 11, 2001, MacFarlane was scheduled to return to Los Angeles on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston. After having a hangover from last night's celebrations, and after getting his departure time incorrectly (8:15 a.m. instead of 7:45 a.m.) from his travel agent, he arrived at Logan International Airport about ten minutes too late to board the flight as the gates had been closed. Fifteen minutes after departure, American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked, and at 8:46 a.m. it was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, destroying the airplane, and killing everyone on board.

## Awards and nominations

MacFarlane has been nominated for twenty-four Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on _Family Guy_ and has won five times, in 2000, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2019. He has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for his work in _Family Guy: Live in Vegas_, _Music Is Better Than Words_, _Family Guy_, _No One Ever Tells You_ and _In Full Swing_. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for co-writing the opening song, "Everybody Needs a Best Friend", from his film _Ted_ with the film's composer Walter Murphy.

He has received numerous awards from other organizations, including the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production and the Saturn Award for Best Television Presentation for the _Family Guy_ episode titled "Blue Harvest", the MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo and the Empire Award for Best Comedy for _Ted_. In 2019, MacFarlane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6259 Hollywood Blvd. In 2020, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

In 2022, a new species of _Hyloscirtus_ frog (_Hyloscirtus sethmacfarlanei_) was described from Ecuador and named after him.

### _Cosmos: A Personal Voyage_

In August 2011, Fox ordered a 13-part updated series of _Cosmos: A Personal Voyage_. MacFarlane will co-produce with Anne Druyan and Steven Soter. It will be hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. The series was broadcast on Fox in 2014.

### _Bordertown_

Seth MacFarlane is on his fifth animated series _Bordertown_ with Alex Borstein. Its broadcast date is on January 3, 2016. It shows a family and has a female lead role.

## Awards and nominations

MacFarlane has been nominated for twenty-four Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on Family Guy and has won five times, in 2000, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2019. He has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for hisR work in _Family Guy: Live in Vegas_, _Music Is Better Than Words_, _Family Guy_, _No One Ever Tells You_ and _In Full Swing_. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for co-writing the opening song, "Everybody Needs a Best Friend", from his film _Ted_ with the film's composer Walter Murphy.

He has received numerous awards from other organizations, including the Annie Aw for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production and the Saturn Award for Best Television Presentation for the _Family Guy_ episode titled "Blue Harvest", the MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo and the Empire Award for Best Comedy for _Ted_. In 2019, MacFarlane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6259 Hollywood Blvd. In 2020, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

In 2022, a new species of _Hyloscirtus_ frog (_Hyloscirtus sethmacfarlanei_) was described from Ecuador and named after him.

### Movies

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1995|_The Life of Larry_|Larry Cummings Steve Lois Cummings|Student movie|
|2006|_Life is Short_|Dr. Ned|Short subject|
|2008|_Hellboy II: The Golden Army_|Johann Krauss (voice)||
|2009|_Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder_|Mars Vegas Singer (voice)|Direct-to-DVD Release|
|2010|_The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!_|I.S.R.A.E.L. (voice)|Direct-to-DVD|
|2010|_Tooth Fairy_|Ziggy||
|2012|_Ted_|Ted (voice)|Also writer/director/producer|
|2014|_A Million Ways to Die in the West_|Albert Stark|Also writer/director/producer|
|2015|_Ted 2_|Ted|Also writer/director/producer|
|2016|_Sing_|Mike (voice)||

### Television

|Year|Title|Role|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1995|_The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show_|Rhode Island Bug|Episode 2.3: "Bugging Out!"||
|1996|_The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve_|Larry Steve Various|||
|1999–2002 2005–present|_Family Guy_|Peter Griffin Stewie Griffin Brian Griffin Glenn Quagmire Various characters|Longest-running role, Creator/Executive producer/Voice artist/Writer||
|2002–2003|_Gilmore Girls_|Zach Bob Merriam (Emily Gilmore's lawyer; on the phone)|Episode 2.21: "Lorelai's Graduation Day" Episode 3.11: "I Solemnly Swear"||
|rowspan=2|2003|_Aqua Teen Hunger Force_|Wayne the Brain|Episode 2.10: "Super Trivia"|
|_The Pitts_|Radio voice|Episode 1.3: "Squarewolves"|||
|2003–2005|_Crank Yankers_|Dick Rogers Arthur Johnson|Appeared in four episodes||
|2004|_Complete Savages_|TV Announcer|Episode 1.4: "Nick Kicks Butt"||
|2004–2005|_Star Trek: Enterprise_|Engineer|Episodes 3.20: "The Forgotten" and 4.15: "Affliction"||
|2005–2009|_Robot Chicken_|Various characters|Appeared in 15 episodes||
|2005–present|_American Dad!_|Stan Smith Roger Many characters|||
|2006|_The War at Home_|Hillary's Date|Episode 2.5: "I Wash My Hands of You"||
|rowspan=3|2007|_Help Me Help You_|Seth|Episode 1.13: "Moving On"|
|_Robot Chicken: Star Wars_|Emperor Palpatine|TV movie|||
|59th Primetime Emmy Awards|Stewie Griffin Brian Griffin|TV special|||
|2008|_Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II_|Emperor Palpatine many characters|TV movie||
|2008|_Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III_|Emperor Palpatine many characters|TV movie||
|2008–2009|_Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy_|Many characters|Appeared in 19 episodes||
|2009|_Bones_|Stewie Griffin|Episode 4.25: "The Critic in the Cabernet"||
|2009–2010|_FlashForward_|Agent Jake Curdy FBI Agent|Episode 1.1: "No More Good Days" and 1.15: "Queen Sacrifice";||
|2009–present|_The Cleveland Show_|Tim the Bear Many characters|||
|rowspan=2|2010|_Phineas and Ferb_|Jeff McGarland|Episode 2.33: "Nerds of a Feather"|
|_Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff_|Himself|Roastmaster of The Roast of David Hasselhoff|||
|2010|_BBC Breakfast_|Himself|Guest||
|2010|_Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III_|Emperor Palpatine|TV movie||
|2011|_Comedy Central Roast of Donald J. Trump_|Himself|Roastmaster of The Roast of Donald Trump||
|2011|_Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen_|Himself|Roastmaster of The Roast of Charlie Sheen||
|2011|_Night of the Hurricane_|Peter Griffin Stewie Griffin Brian Griffin Tom Tucker Stan Smith Roger Various characters|||

## Other websites

- Interview  on IGN.com
- Seth Macfarlane at Emmys.com

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Seth MacFarlane
- **image**: Seth MacFarlane by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg
- **caption**: MacFarlane at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International
- **birth name**: Seth Woodbury MacFarlane
- **birth place**: Kent, Connecticut, U.S.
- **nationality**: American
- **alma mater**: Rhode Island School of Design <small>(Bachelor of Fine Arts)</small>
- **occupation**: Actor, voice actor, animator, writer, comedian, singer, producer, director, activist
- **years active**: 1995–present
- **signature**: Seth MacFarlane signature.svg
- **known for**: _Family Guy_
_American Dad!_
_The Cleveland Show_
_The Winner (TV series), The Winner_
_Seth McFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy_
_Comedy Central Roasts_
_Ted (film), Ted_
- **partner**: Emilia Clarke (2012-2013)
- **relations**: Rachael MacFarlane (sister)