Seth MacFarlane

**Seth Woodbury MacFarlane** (born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, director, and singer, known for his work in animation and comedy. He is the creator of the television series *Family Guy* (1999–present) and *The Orville* (2017–present), and co-creator of the television series *American Dad!* (2005–present) and *The Cleveland Show* (2009–2013). He also wrote, directed, and starred in the films *Ted* (2012), its sequel *Ted 2* (2015), and *A Million Ways to Die in the West* (2014).

MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied animation. Recruited to Hollywood, he was an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera for several television series, including *Johnny Bravo*, *Cow and Chicken*, *Dexter's Laboratory*, and *Larry & Steve*. He made several guest appearances on television series such as *Gilmore Girls*, *The War at Home*, *Star Trek: Enterprise*, and *FlashForward*. In 2008, he created his own YouTube series titled *Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy*. He won several awards for his work on *Family Guy*, including five Primetime Emmy Awards and an Annie Award. In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year.

MacFarlane has performed as a singer at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Royal Albert Hall in London. He has released six studio albums, in the same vein of his musical idol Frank Sinatra, beginning with *Music Is Better Than Words* in 2011. MacFarlane has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for his musical work. He hosted the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and was also nominated for Best Original Song for the song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from *Ted*.

MacFarlane served as executive producer of the Neil deGrasse Tyson-hosted *Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey*, an update of the 1980s *Cosmos* series hosted by Carl Sagan. He was instrumental in providing funding for the series, as well as securing studio support for it from other entertainment executives. In 2020, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

In **Deutsche Eisenbahnmärchen**, he provides the voice of Klaus Climax and Uwe.

## Early life and education

MacFarlane was born and raised in Kent, Connecticut. His parents, Ronald Milton MacFarlane and Ann Perry (née Sager), were born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. MacFarlane's younger sister Rachael is also a voice actress. He has roots in New England going back to the 1600s, and is a descendant of *Mayflower* passenger William Brewster. MacFarlane's parents met in 1970, when they both lived and worked in Boston, Massachusetts, and married later that year. The couple moved to Kent in 1972, where Ann began working in the Admissions Office at South Kent School. She later worked in the College Guidance and Admissions Offices at the Kent School, a selective college preparatory school, where Ronald was a teacher.

During his childhood, MacFarlane developed an interest in illustration and began drawing cartoon characters such as Fred Flintstone and Woody Woodpecker, as early as at two years old. By the age of five, MacFarlane knew that he would want to pursue a career in animation, and began by creating flip books, after his parents found a book on the subject for him. Four years later, aged nine, MacFarlane began publishing a weekly comic strip *Walter Crouton* for *The Kent Good Times Dispatch*, the local newspaper in Kent; it paid him five dollars per week. In one anecdote from the time, MacFarlane said in an October 2011 interview that as a child he was always "weirdly fascinated by the Communion ceremony". He created a strip with a character kneeling at the altar taking Communion and asking "Can I have fries with that?" The paper printed it and he got an "angry letter" from the local priest; it led to "sort of a little mini-controversy" in the town.

MacFarlane received his high school diploma in 1991 from the Kent School. While there, he continued experimenting with animation, and his parents gave him an 8 mm camera. MacFarlane went on to study film, video, and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. As a student, he had intended to work for Disney but changed his mind after graduating.

At RISD MacFarlane created a series of independent films, meeting future *Family Guy* cast member Mike Henry, whose brother Patrick was MacFarlane's classmate. During his time at RISD, he performed stand-up comedy. In his senior year, he made a thesis film, *The Life of Larry*, which became the inspiration for *Family Guy*. A professor submitted his film to the animation studio Hanna-Barbera, where he was later hired.

## Music

MacFarlane has a baritone voice. He is a pianist and singer who, in his early years, trained with Lee and Sally Sweetland, the vocal coaches of Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra. In an interview with NPR, MacFarlane commented on their vocal training, to which he said "They really drill you," he said. "They teach you the old-style way of singing, back when you had no electronic help. ... [They teach you to] show your teeth. If you look at old photos of Sinatra while he's singing, there's a lot of very exposed teeth. That was something that Lee Sweetland hit on day in and day out, and correctly so, because it just brightens the whole performance." In 2009, he appeared as a vocalist at the BBC Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra in Prom 22 *A Celebration of Classic MGM Film Musicals*. In 2010, he reappeared at the Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra in a Christmas concert special. In 2012, it was announced he would again appear at the Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra in a concert celebrating Broadway musicals. In 2015, MacFarlane again appeared at The Proms as a vocalist with the John Wilson Orchestra, this time in a Sinatra program. Regarding his musical passion, MacFarlane has said, "I love and am fascinated by exciting orchestration—what you can do with a band that size—and I think in many ways it's a lost art." His music is predominantly vocal jazz, show tunes, and swing. He will occasionally use musical comedy for either his shows or movies.

## Influences

MacFarlane's comedy influences include people like Woody Allen, Jackie Gleason, Bill Maher, Mel Brooks, and Monty Python, while his musical influences include people like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Vic Damone, Johnny Mercer, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Gordon MacRae, and the Rat Pack.

## Filmography

* *Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story* (2005)
* *Hellboy II: The Golden Army* (2008)
* *Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder* (2009)
* *The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!* (2010)
* *Tooth Fairy* (2010)
* *Ted* (2012)
* *Movie 43* (2013)
* *A Million Ways to Die in the West* (2014)
* *Ted 2* (2015)
* *Sing* (2016)
* *Logan Lucky* (2017)

## Character roles

* Klaus Climax
* Uwe