Alf Clausen, the composer of The Simpsons, has passed away at the age of 84 after a battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a rare neurodegenerative disorder
The Simpsons icon Alf Clausen, who worked on the show for 27 years, has passed away after a battle with a rare illness.
The seasoned composer died age 84 after a fight with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a condition he was diagnosed with eight years ago. His daughter, Kaarin Clausen, confirmed his passing to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Emmy-winning composer died on Thursday May 29 at his Valley Village residence in Los Angeles. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) is a rare, degenerative neurological disorder that impacts movement, balance, vision and speech.
It’s a type of atypical Parkinsonian disorder, often misdiagnosed early on due to shared symptoms with Parkinson’s disease.
This follows some more tragic news surrounding creators of the much-loved TV show.
Clausen joined The Simpsons from the second series in 1990 and continued to work on the show until its 28th season in 2017. He is responsible for some of the show’s most iconic songs and, alongside lyricist Ken Keeler, bagged an Emmy award in 1997 and 1998 for the songs We Put the Spring in Springfield and You’re Checkin’ In (A Musical Tribute to the Betty Ford Center).
He received another 21 Emmy nominations for his work on the programme and a total of 30 throughout his illustrious career, reports the Express.
Although Clausen didn’t compose the main theme music for the show, which was created by Danny Elfman, his music frequently played off that composition and he also rearranged and re-recorded the theme during his tenure on the series to adapt it to different music styles.
Despite raking in an Emmy, he took Disney and Fox to court in August 2019 after leaving the show.
He claimed he was sacked due to his age and health woes. Disney’s legal team managed to throw out the ageism bit of his lawsuit in summer 2020 but he continued with other aspects including wrongful dismissal. The case was settled in February 2022
Clausen first hit the big time with a telly composing gig in 1985 for Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.
At the same stretch, he started banging out tunes for ALF, the 80s sitcom featuring a quipping extraterrestrial.
But initially, he wasn’t too keen on diving into The Simpsons, reckoning it was a bit lightweight for his career path.
“I was posed the question, ‘Would you like to score an animated show?’ and I said, ‘No,'” Clausen spilled the beans in a 2015 yarn for the Television Academy Foundation’s website The Interviews. “I said, ‘I just got off of four years of Moonlighting, and I really want to be a drama composer. I’m more interested in doing longform feature films.'”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
