It’s not just another Hollywood goodbye—it’s the closing credits to one of the most iconic musical legacies in TV history. Alf Clausen, the Emmy-winning composer whose sweeping, playful, and deeply expressive scores were the unseen heartbeat of “The Simpsons” for nearly three decades, has died. He was 84.
Clausen passed away at his Los Angeles home on Thursday, following a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease, according to his daughter Kaarin. For fans, colleagues, and an entire industry shaped by his musical fingerprints, his passing marks the end of an era.
Yes, Danny Elfman gave us “The Simpsons”’ unforgettable theme, but it was Clausen who delivered nearly 600 episode scores from 1990 to 2017—an incredible feat of consistency, creativity, and emotional resonance. He led a 35-piece orchestra each week to capture everything from Homer’s donut-fueled daydreams to Lisa’s jazz solos to Springfield’s countless parodies of pop culture, noir thrillers, sci-fi, and everything in between.
But don’t think for a second that Clausen approached his work like it was a Saturday morning cartoon. As he once told “Variety”, his mandate from Matt Groening was clear: “We’re not a cartoon. We’re a drama where the characters are drawn.” And so Clausen scored “The Simpsons” not with slapstick cues or zany interludes, but with the emotional weight of a composer who treated these animated lives as real, complex, and worthy of musical depth.
The result? Magic. For 27 years, Alf Clausen gave “The Simpsons” a musical soul. Whether it was Bart’s rebellious chaos, Marge’s exhausted longing, or Lisa’s earnest search for meaning—he translated it all into melody.
Outside of Springfield, Clausen left his mark on shows like “Moonlighting” (a gig handed to him by Lee Holdridge that earned him six Emmy nominations) and “Alf” (which, he joked, had “no relation”). He was the musical director for variety staples like “Donny & Marie” in the 1970s, and an orchestrator on classic ’80s fare like “Splash” and “The Beastmaster.”
He received 30 Emmy nominations across his career—21 of them for “The Simpsons” alone—and took home two wins. Add five Annie Awards to the mix, and you start to see the full scope of a composer whose work defined not just an era of animation, but the very soundtrack of modern television.
Clausen’s 2017 dismissal from “The Simpsons” in a budget-cutting move drew outrage across the industry. He later filed a lawsuit over the firing, adding a bitter coda to a relationship that had brought such iconic collaboration to life.
He is survived by his wife Sally, three children, two stepchildren, and 11 grandchildren. And, of course, by the millions who may not have known his name—but will forever know his sound.
In the words of Homer Simpson: “D’oh!” But this time, it’s said with reverence, a tear, and maybe a little background music—something sweeping, emotional, and entirely Clausen.
