J. Michael Mendel, the Emmy-winning producer for Rick and Morty and The Simpsons, passed Sunday night of natural causes two days before his 55th birthday, according to The New York Post. Mendel began his career in television production for The Tracey Ullman Show in the ’80s when it began airing shorts about a family out of Springfield called the Simpsons.
Mendel would later go on to produce 207 episodes of the Simpsons, winning three Emmys in the process before joining Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty. He would win his fourth Emmy for his work on Rick and Morty in 2018.
Mendel had some big film credits, too, with Tom Hanks’ Big and Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire. He’s survived by his wife and two children.
