Every successful person has one or two distinct qualities that often sets them apart from the rest of the crowd. A good example is Seth MacFarlane who has amazed the world with his animation and film making skills. The guy is intelligent, talented, and prolific, which is why he has been celebrated globally for his many successes which include feats in both music and movies.
Amazingly, MacFarlane has succeeded in bagging several awards and accolades for his outstanding work over the years. He takes the credit for creating animated movies like Family Guy and American Dad. He also has his hands in TV production and hosting and has been featured in quite a good number of movies.
Seth MacFarlane Landed His First Job as a Nine Year Old
Even though Seth MacFarlane’s parents; Ronald Milton and Ann Perry, were not inclined towards the performing arts, they were quite sensitive to the subject as they paid absolute concentration on their child and discovered he had a flair for the arts.
As young as the age of two, Seth often scrambled a few drawings and paintings of several cartoon characters. By the time he turned five, he had gained perfection and created an animation flipbook. At age nine, the young talent took most of his developed creatives and started publishing them as a weekly comic strip titled Walter Crouton on the Kent Good Times-Dispatch, his local newspaper, who in turn paid him a salary of five dollars a week.
He Later Studied Film, Video, and Animation
Regarding his education, Seth MacFarlane bagged his high school diploma from Kent School in 1991, around the same time he received his first camera from his parents. Certain about what he wanted to do, he moved on to bag a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film, video, and animation from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
In his senior year, Seth worked on a thesis film titled The Life of Larry. His professor submitted it to the Hanna-Barbera animation studio where he was later hired. He would later write several animated series for Hanna-Barbera, including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Dexter’s Laboratory, I am Weasel, and Larry and Steve.
Seth MacFarlane’s Work as an Animator
While doing his thing with Hanna-Barbera, Seth MacFarlane began working on the comedy TV series Family Guy which was said to have been inspired by his senior year thesis. He pitched it to Fox and in July 1998, the network purchased the series.
Seth wrote three episodes of the first season of the series and voiced some of the main characters of the show. Family Guy was a huge success as it gained massive followership and led to the creation of a soundtrack titled Family Guy: Live in Vegas. There was also a Family Guy video game created in 2006, and a Family Guy feature film. A spin-off of the show named The Cleveland Show was also created.
With the success of Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane was encouraged to produce another animated show called American Dad! which became his second long-running, successful adult animated series. American Dad! began airing in early 2005. While Seth leaves much of the creative directing on the show to his co-creators; Mike Barker (who later departed from the show) and Weitzman, he does extensive voice acting work for the show.
He Has Contributed His Quota To TV Production and Hosting
Seth MacFarlane served as the executive producer of the Fox live-action sitcom, The Winner – a 13-part updated series of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey which he co-produced with Steven Soter and Ann Druyan. He equally voiced some characters during the animated portions of the series.
Seth produced a season of the sitcom Dad, and also served as its executive producer alongside Wellesley Wild and Alec Sulkin. His other productions on TV include Blunt Talk for Starz and the animated series Bordertown.
As a TV host, he has anchored one of the Comedy Central Roasts shows. He has also served as a host of the 85th Academy Awards where he was called as a nominee in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing the theme song, “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” for his movie Ted. He has also functioned as a host for the Breakthrough Prize ceremony among other gigs.
Seth MacFarlane’s Appearance in Movies
The very first acting role Seth MacFarlane had was in the 2006 short film, Life is Short where he played the role of Dr. Ned. In the 2010 fantasy comedy film, Tooth Fairy, which also featured other actors like Dwayne Johnson and Ashley Judd, he played the role of Ziggy, a fairy that sells black-market tooth fairy items.
In 2012, he voiced the main character in the movie Ted, which he also wrote the screenplay, produced, and directed as well.
In 2014, he played the leading character in the movie A Million Ways to Die in the West which he co-wrote with Wellesley Wild and Alec Sulkin. A few years later in 2017, he featured in the Steven Soderbergh-directed Logan Kucky comedy film as Max Chilblain.
Seth Also Has a Music Career That was Birthed in 2011
It is believed that if Seth MacFarlane was unable to succeed in the animation world, he would have turned to have a career as a singer. This is because as a child, he trained with Lee and Sally Sweetland who are famous for being the vocal coaches of Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra. The animator has a baritone voice and is also good at the piano.
In 2011, after inking a record deal with Universal Republic Records, Seth dropped his debut studio album titled Music Is Better Than Words on the 27th of September 2011. The album was nominated at the 54th Grammy Awards in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. On the 30th of September 2014, he dropped the album Holiday for Swing which featured Sara Bareilles and Norah Jones.
Seth’s third studio album No One Ever Tells You came to light the next year on the 30th of September 2015, earning mostly positive reviews as well as a Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In Full Swing, which was his fourth studio album, dropped on the 15th of September 2017. It was nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement, Instrumental, and Vocals as well as Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
His fifth and latest studio album, Once in a While, was released on April 19, 2019.
His Net Worth Puts Him Among The A-List Entertainers of Hollywood
Regarding his financial value, nothing less is expected from a man who started developing his skills from the tender age of two and has grown what he started as a hobby into a hugely successful career.
As of the last review of his wealth, Seth MacFarlane has a staggering net worth of $200 million. It is needless to mention that a lion’s share of his wealth comes from his career in Hollywood which involves his work as an animator, actor, writer, producer, and director.
Seth is one dogged guy that has refused to relent even in the face of serious challenges. He was not discouraged when he got a strange deal of $50,000 from Fox to produce the Family Guy pilot when it would normally cost around $1 million. It took him six months but he eventually achieved it and consequently, Fox ordered the series immediately, making him the youngest executive producer on TV at age 24.
Family Guy has since developed into a $1-billion franchise. In 2008, after prolonged negotiations that took about two and a half years, MacFarlane and Fox reached a deal of $100 million that would keep both Family Guy and American Dad! on the network until 2012. The agreement made him the world’s highest-paid television writer at the time.
MacFarlane’s fortune got even better after he delved into the music industry. The funnyman also earns from other business endeavors.
Seth MacFarlane Has Fallen In and Out of Love Severally
Seth MacFarlane has fallen in and out of love with a lot of ladies in the past. He is currently unmarried and is one of the many celebrities who are often tagged as a playboy. His first publicized relationship was with Nicole Sullivan. The two became an item in the year 1998 but called it off after two years.
Afterward, he started keeping his dalliances and affairs on a low profile probably to avoid the possible consequences that can emanate from over-publicized relationships. However, the news of his love life resurfaced in the media following his relationship with Emilia Clarke in 2012. The pair were together for a year before they decided to call it quits.
Other people he has been linked with include Tamera Mowry, Christa Campbell, Jessica Barth, Kaylee DeFer, Ashley Green, Katie Sah, Audrina Patridge, Alexis Knapp, and Cara Santa Maria.
He is Currently Rumored To Be Dating Halston Sage
Currently, Seth MacFarlane is suspected to be in a relationship with his The Orville co-star, Halston Sage. The two were first spotted together at a dinner at Sushi Park in West Hollywood. While there are no confirmations about this, Halston’s grannie made it publicly known that there are no reasons why they shouldn’t be together; that statement caused a lot of rife on the internet with many concluding that the two were definitely an item. However, neither Seth nor Sage have accepted or denied these claims.
