Overview

• Clausen died May 29 at his Los Angeles home at age 84 after a decade-long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
• He scored nearly 600 episodes of The Simpsons from 1990 until his firing in 2017, conducting a 35-piece orchestra for each score.
• His contributions earned him two Emmy wins for the songs “We Put the Spring in Springfield” and “You’re Checkin’ In,” 21 additional Emmy nominations for Simpsons music and five Annie Awards.
• Producers’ cost-cutting move in 2017 prompted fan backlash, led Clausen to file and later drop a wrongful-termination suit against Fox and Disney, and culminated in an honorary “composer emeritus” credit.
• Show creator Matt Groening, executive producer Al Jean and other colleagues have praised his unique approach of scoring character emotions over on-screen action.