Alf Clausen, who wrote music for The Simpsons, dies
His daughter Kaarin Clausen told The Associated Press that Alf Clausen died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles after struggling with Parkinson's disease for about a decade.
Clausen, who also scored TV series including Moonlighting and Alf ("no relation", he used to joke) was nominated for 30 Emmy Awards, 21 of them for The Simpsons, winning twice.
Al Jean, an early Simpsons writer who was one of the key creative figures on the show in the 1990s, said in a post on X Friday that "Clausen was an incredibly talented man who did so much for The Simpsons".
While Danny Elfman wrote the show's theme song, Clausen joined the Fox animated series created by Matt Groening in 1990 and provided essentially all of its music until 2017, composing nearly 600 scores and conducting the 35-piece orchestra that played it in the studio.
His colleagues said his music was a key component of the show's comedy, but Clausen believed the best way to back up the gags of Homer, Marge Bart and Lisa was by making the music as straight as possible.
"Matt Groening said to me very early on, 'We're not a cartoon. We're a drama where the characters are drawn. I want you to score it like a drama,'" Clausen told Variety, which first reported his death, in 1998.
"I score the emotions of the characters as opposed to specific action hits on the screen."
Clausen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in Jamestown, North Dakota.
He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1966, and moved to Los Angeles seeking a career in music.
In the 1970s he was a musical director on several TV variety shows including Donny & Marie.
Clausen worked as an orchestrator for composer Lee Holdridge in his scores for 1980s films including Splash and The Beastmaster.
Holdridge first got the composing job on Moonlighting, the late-80s ABC rom-com detective series starring Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd, but he handed the gig to Clausen, who would get six Emmy nominations for his music on it.
Clausen won his Emmys for The Simpsons in 1997 and 1998 and also won five Annie Awards, which honour work in animation in film and television.
He was fired from The Simpsons in a cost-cutting move in 2017, to the outrage of his collaborators and fans. He sued over his dismissal.
Clausen is survived by his wife Sally, children Kaarin, Scott and Kyle, stepchildren Josh and Emily, and 11 grandchildren.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
5 hours ago
- West Australian
Brad Pitt's family mourns his beloved mother Jane Pitt in heartbreaking statement
Jane Pitt, mother of Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt, passed away peacefully at the age of 84 on August 5, 2025, her family has announced. She is survived by her husband William Alvin 'Bill' Pitt, their three children — Brad, Doug, and Julie — and 14 grandchildren. Sydney Pitt, Brad Pitt's niece and daughter of Doug Pitt, shared a poignant tribute on Instagram celebrating her grandmother's profound impact on the family. 'My sweet Grammy, Jane Etta, we were not ready for you to go yet but knowing you are finally free to sing, dance, and paint again makes it a tad easier,' Sydney wrote alongside photos spanning Jane's life. 'If you knew Grammy, you knew she had the biggest heart. She cared deeply for everyone and everything, no questions asked.' Sydney recalled the lessons Jane taught her: 'She taught me how to paint, how to be strong, how to lead with kindness, to love Jesus through everything, and to find joy in the smallest things. She made up the silliest games just to make us laugh, and she believed in fairness, in putting others first, and doing good simply because it was the right thing to do.' Jane often celebrated each grandchild with a 'special day' filled with treats, games, and outings, showing an unmatched energy for all 14 grandchildren. Sydney reflected, 'There was no limit to the love she gave, and everyone who met her felt it. I don't know how we move forward without her. But I know she's still here in every brushstroke, every kind gesture, every hummingbird. She was love in its purest form.' Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Jane Pitt was a former elementary school teacher and counsellor who raised her family in Springfield, Missouri, alongside her husband Bill, a former trucking company owner. Though typically private, Jane and Bill occasionally accompanied Brad on red carpets, including the 2012 Oscars and the 2014 premiere of 'Unbroken.' Jane was also a gifted artist who shared her passion for painting with her grandchildren, creating cherished family memories. Her family honoured her legacy through philanthropy, including the Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Centre in Missouri, funded by donations from the Pitt siblings. Brad Pitt has not made a public statement, but Sydney's heartfelt tribute and the family's reflections highlight a woman whose kindness and creativity left a lasting mark on those who knew her. If you want, I can help tailor this story for different platforms or add quotes from public statements as they become available.
Perth Now
19 hours ago
- Perth Now
Sharon Stone doesn't think Basic Instinct brought her 'respect'
Sharon Stone doesn't think she received "respect" because of her infamous Basic Instinct scene. The 67-year-old actress can be seen in one scene in the 1992 exposing her private area as her alter ego Catherine Tramell crosses her legs in front of Michael Douglas' character Detective Nick Curran and other cops whilst she is interrogated, and while she noted the controversial moment "made [her] an icon", she has mixed feelings about it. She told Business Insider: "It made me an icon, but it didn't bring me respect. But would I do it again? We don't get to make these choices in life. I don't participate in the fantasy world in this way." Sharon alleged in her 2021 autobiography, The Beauty of Living Twice, that she was tricked into removing her underwear for the scene and hadn't seen the footage until a screening of the movie, but she now understands why director Paul Verhoeven was "scared" to show it to her. She said: "I very much believe that none of us knew at the time what we were getting in regard to that shot, and when Paul got it, he didn't want to lose it, and he was scared to show me. And I get that." And despite her initial unhappiness, Sharon was happy to keep the scene in the movie because she understood its value. She explained: "Once I had time to calm down, I didn't make him take it out of the movie when I had the legal right to. "So I did have the chance to do it differently, and I didn't because once I had the chance to step back, I understood, as the director, not the girl in the film, that that made the movie better. "What I did with what happened [in the interrogation scene] is exactly the way I wanted to do it. "Verhoeven and I have a wonderful relationship. I would work with him again in a second. We both understand. Even though we have different public ways of discussing it, we understand very well what happened regarding the crotch scene." Sharon previously claimed she first saw the scene as she watched the movie "with a room full of agents and lawyers". In an excerpt from her memoir, she said: "That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I'd been told, 'We can't see anything – I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on.' 'Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I'm the one with the vagina, in question, let me say: The other points of view are b****** ... it was me and my parts up there." She also recalled slapping director Paul across the face before leaving and calling her lawyer Marty Singer to assess her options. But Paul insisted his memory of the time was "radically different". He told Variety: 'My memory is radically different from Sharon's memory. That does not stand in the way and has nothing to do with the wonderful way that she portrayed Catherine Tramell. She is absolutely phenomenal... but her version is impossible. She knew exactly what we were doing. 'I told her it was based on a story of a woman that I knew when I was a student who did the crossing of her legs without panties regularly at parties. When my friend told her we could see her vagina, she said, 'Of course, that's why I do it'. Then Sharon and I decided to do a similar sequence.'
Sydney Morning Herald
20 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
I turned to Tetris after my father died – then something strange started happening
When I was 15, about the time my dad died, I became addicted to Tetris. I stumbled across Tetris after all other gaming sites had been blocked by our school, and a friend sent me a scrambled URL that bypassed the firewall. Desperate to do anything other than schoolwork, I started playing the stripped-back Tetris game relentlessly. I'd play in class. I'd play at home. I'd play while simultaneously watching movies and scrolling on my phone in the opposite hand. After months, something changed. I started to notice cubic patterns everywhere. I'd organise my desk so that the pencils lined up with the edge of my laptop. I'd be distracted in conversation, picturing how I could throw a Ritz cracker to land perfectly between the other person's lips. The two-bit music started running constantly in my head. Everything became squares tumbling towards the earth. Scared for my sanity, I quit cold turkey. The rudimentary, hyper-coloured video game was invented by a Soviet software engineer in 1985. It soon swept over the globe, and through myriad iterations, it is today considered the best-selling video game franchise of all-time, with more than 1 billion people estimated to have rotated the plummeting blocks. World championships are held annually, but it wasn't until 2023 that the first person finally 'finished' the game – a 13-year-old in his Oklahoma bedroom. Years after my addiction began, I came across the Tetris effect. What I experienced after gawking at falling squares all day happens to others, too. The real world can become Tetris. Researchers have studied what's called Game Transfer Phenomena and found that it's surprisingly common. It even cropped up in an episode of The Simpsons. The phenomenon is characterised by sensory, perceptual and cognitive intrusions. It often involves involuntary hallucinations, recurring thoughts, and unique unexplainable behaviours, which can occur after playing almost any video game.
