Seth MacFarlane

Profile Overview

Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series Family Guy and The Orville, and co-creator of the television series American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. He co-wrote, co-produced, directed and starred in the films Ted, its sequel Ted 2 and A Million Ways to Die in the West.
MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he studied animation. He was recruited as an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera's television series Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Laboratory. During this time, he created the animated short Larry & Steve—a loose precursor of Family Guy—for Fred Seibert's What a Cartoon!. In 2008, he created the online series Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. MacFarlane has made guest appearances as an actor on live action shows, including Gilmore Girls, Star Trek: Enterprise, The War at Home and FlashForward. MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on Family Guy, including five Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year.
MacFarlane has performed as a vocalist at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. He has released nine studio albums, in the vein of Frank Sinatra, with influences from jazz orchestrations, and Hollywood musicals, beginning with Music Is Better Than Words (2011). MacFarlane has received five Grammy Award nominations. He has frequently collaborated with artists such as Sara Bareilles, Norah Jones and Elizabeth Gillies on his albums. He hosted the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and was nominated for Best Original Song for "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted.
MacFarlane was executive producer of the Neil deGrasse Tyson-hosted Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, an update of the 1980s Cosmos series hosted by Carl Sagan. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2020.