Seth MacFarlane

You may not recognise the face, but you might well be more familiar with the voice.

Seth MacFarlane is the creator and co-writer of the truly inspired animated series Family Guy.

Not only that, but he is also a hugely gifted voice actor, supplying the hugely contrasting vocal stylings to most of tehprincipal characters, including Peter, Stewie and Brian Griffin, as well as Quahog news anchor Tom Tucker and sex pest Quagmire to name a few!

Seth was born in the small New England town of Kent Connecticut where he lived with his father (Ron), Mother (Perry) and sister (Rachael).

He attended and studied animation at the Rhode Island School of Design and after he graduated he was hired by Hanna-Barbera Productions (Now called Cartoon Network Studios) working as a animator and writer on the TV series Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken.

He also worked for Walt Disney Animation as a writer on the TV series Jungle Cubs. He created The Life of Larry (1995) which was originally suppose to be used as an in-between on Mad-TV.

Unfortunately the deal fell through but a few months later executives at the Fox Network called him into their offices and gave him $50,000 to create a pilot about a messed up New England family, whose members include an alcoholic talking dog and a toddler with plans for world domination. Needless to say, this pilot would eventually become Family Guy

Although receiving critical acclaim, Fox cancelled Family Guy after three seasons, but due to overwhelming DVD sales it was brought back for a fourth season, currently airing in the States. It was then cancelled. Again. But then, it was resurrected once more.

This was the first time a cartoon show has been resurrected in such a way and it also led to the realease of a feature length movie called Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin The Untold Story, currently available on DVD.

Following the success of Family Guy, MacFarlane also created and voiced American Dad, a similarly adult cartoon about a right wing CIA agent who tries to reconcile this with being a father.

As an actor, his interest in science fiction and fantasy has led to cameo and guest appearances on Star Trek: Enterprise and voicing the character of Johann Krauss in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army, as well as singing for the opening credits in the film Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.

His cartoon shows are known for spoof references to popular fiction in movies and on TV. He recently made his own YouTube channel called Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.

A recent deal signed with The Fox Broadcasting Company has made MacFarlane the highest-paid television writer and producer in history. He resides in Los Angeles, California where he recently purchased a $13.5 million home and is reportedly being paid $100 million by 20th Century Fox TV for his most recent contract with them.

It seems that at the moment, the world belongs to Seth MacFarlane and deservedly so!