Alf Clausen, who penned memorable songs for “The Simpsons” for over 27 years, winning Emmys for two of them, has died. He was 84 years old.
Clausen received 21 Emmy Award nominations for the animated series and ranks among the most-nominated composers in Emmy history with 30 career nominations. He also won five Annie Awards for his musical contributions to the long-running Matt Groening-created show.
He won an Emmy for the song “You’re Checkin’ In” in a 1997 episode that took the Simpsons to New York, where they saw a faux musical called “Kickin’ It: A Musical Journey through the Betty Ford Center. He had previously collected an Emmy for “We Put The Spring In Springfield,” from 1996’s “Bart After Dark.” The song brought out the entire town to sing the praises of bordello that Marge Simpson wanted torn down.
Clausen was fired by producers in 2017 to enormous fan outcry, especially since the termination took place via email.
He was replaced by Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Music.
In 2019, he sued 20th Century Fox and Disney, claiming he’d been unfairly fired because of his age and disability. The following year, Clausen revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He dropped the wrongful termination suit in 2022.
After his departure from the series, he was credited as “Composer Emeritus” to honor his body of work.
Prior to landing the plum “Simpsons” gig, Clausen received six Emmy nominations for “Moonlighting,” winning twice for 1985’s “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice” and 1986’s “Atomic Shakespeare.”
He also scored Fox animated series “The Critic” and the CBS Bette Midler series “Bette.”
Deadline was first to report his passing.
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