Seth MacFarlane is a very respectable American actor, singer, comedian, and moviemaker.
He gained popularity in his hometown, but later in the country itself as well.
He is also a big political and LGBT activist. His most known work is the creation of „Family Guy“ and „Orville“, also his work on Ted and Ted 2.
Seth MacFarlane Early years
He was born as Seth Woodbury MacFarlane on October 26, 1973, in the city of Kent, located in the state of Connecticut, in the United States.
He said that he cannot really say anything bad about his childhood because he had always been a very happy kid from the start.
He grew up with his younger sister Rachel raised by his loving parents Ronald and Ann. His mother was employed at the Admissions Office in one of the schools in Kent where she met her future husband Ronald who was a teacher.
Seth was always very interested in drawing and illustrating from a very early age. He was only five years old when his parents gave him a book in which he could find out how to make flipbooks which became his huge interest.
He continued illustrating and making his comics. He was ten when he found his first job as a comic writer: he published his comic book in the local Kent newspapers.
He finished his high school education in Kent in 1991. During the time he was a high school student he spent a lot of time filming with his new 8 mm camera his parents gave him as a present.
It was his huge passion and he eventually enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design where he studied film, video, and animation. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from this school.
He was also interested in stand-up comedy so he did a lot of that at RISD. His classmate at RISD was Patrick Henry who later became a cast member of Family Guy.
He made a movie named „The Life of Larry“ which was the basis of “the Family Guy“ series he made later on.
His professor at RISD sent his film to Hanna – Barbera animation studio who showed interest in his work.
Hanna- Barbara hired him mostly because of his writing talent, not so much because of his cartooning ability.
Seth MacFarlane Career development
He began working for Cartoon Network and in 1996. This was just the beginning of everything that will happen. He was so happy to see the way things are evolving.
He created a sequel to his movie and named it „Larry 6 Steve“.
During the time he was a part of this animated studio he worked on several animated series.
Some of them were Dexter’s laboratory and Cow and Chicken. He spent most of his working time as a storyboard artist on Johnny Bravo.
He also freelanced a lot for Walt Disney Animation Company. He also wrote a lot for an animated series „Ace Ventura: Pet Detective“.
Fox Broadcasting should interest in his work and soon started negotiating with him. He was offered a huge amount of money to produce a pilot and if it would be good it will be made into an animated series.
It took him six months to make this project and when he showed it to the Fox executives they were very satisfied with it and ordered him to make a series.
He made „Family Guy“ which was first aired at the beginning of 1999. Seth gives his voice to all main male characters – from Peter to Brian Griffin and also to a lot of other characters.
The series became a huge hit and became one of the most cost-effective series ever, earning millions of dollars.
He became the most paid TV writer ever after he signed a contract with Fox on the amount of $100 million.
In 2005, a soundtrack of Family Guy was released by Geffen Records and it featured a lot of musicals.
Many stars appeared on the record; from Mila Kunis to Adam West.
In 2006, a video game „Family Guy“ was also released.
„Family Guy Live Show“ was also created in 2007, with the cast members voicing characters live.
Although the series is very popular it is also very criticized mostly by Parents TV Council who object to the content of the series. This caused the cancellation of the series twice but it was always reinstated.
In 2005, Seth produced another successful animated series named „American Dad!“. He did a lot of voice acting in this series but left the directing of the series to Weitzman and Barker.
The „American Dad!“ debut at Super Bowl, with Seth explaining that he found the inspiration for the series in the reign of George W. Bush, a former American president.
The show’s basis was to be a political satire but eventually, it grew to something more. The animated series follows the life of the typical American middle – class family but since nothing is like it seems the family turns out to be anything but typical.
Seth also gives his voice to Stan (the main character) and Roger. Seth’s sister is also working in that branch so she was hired to give her voice to Hayley in the series.
After the huge success of Family Guy, Seth decided to create a spin-off based on one of the characters in the series: Cleveland Brown.
It is named The Cleveland Show and it was an idea given from the man who voices Cleveland in Family Guy – Mike Henry.
The series aired from 2009 and 2013 with 44 episodes aired in that period. In „The Cleveland Show“ Seth did not voice the main character, he gave his voice to Tim the Bear.
In 2008, Burger King sponsored Seth’s series of animated short episodes called „Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy“.
In 2016, Seth offered Fox his sci-fi comedy-drama series he created himself. Seth stars in the series which started airing in September 2017 under the name „The Orville“.
The other cast members are Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes. Peter Macon and more. The series has been aired in two seasons until now: 2017/18 and 2018/19. The series continues by the end of 2020 on Hulu.
During his career, Seth had been involved in a lot of series production. He was the executive producer of „The Winner“ series aired on Fox in 2007. He also co-produced „Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey“.
In the 2013/2014 season, he produced an action sitcom called „Dads“ with Seth Green and Giovani Ribisi in the leading roles.
In 2012 he was asked to host the Academy Awards event.
In 2014 he also hosted an international event called „The Breakthrough Prize“ which was held in Silicon Valley.
Seth always wanted to create and direct a movie so he eventually wrote a screenplay for „Ted“, an extremely successful comedy movie that was made on the budget of $50 million but eventually earned over $500 million.
Seth directed and produced the movie he made together with his lead actors Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. Seth also starred in the movie. This movie was extremely popular in the cinema and was praised for its music.
That is why the movie gained an Oscar in the category for Best Original Song. In 2015 „Ted“ gained its sequel „Ted 2“.
The second movie he directed was a western comedy movie titled „A Million Ways to Die in the West“ in 2014.
He stars in the movie alongside Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson. The film was very well received by the public and has earned twice its budget. Seth also released a novel based on the screenplay.
Seth was also involved in music and has released his first album in 2011. It was named „Music Is Better Than Words“ and it received a Grammy nomination in the category of the Best Traditional Pop VocalAlbum. He also guests appeared on „Let’s Fall in Love“ song sang by Calabria Foti.
Seth released his debut Christmas album in 2014 titled „Holiday for Swing“.
His 3rd album came out in 2015 and earned him another Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. It is titled „No One Ever Tells You“ and was released through Republic Records.
In 2016 he made a duet with Barbra Streisand which was released on her album „Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway“.
His fourth album was released in 2017 and is titled „In Full Swing“. The album gained good reviews and earned two Grammy Nominations.
Seth MacFarlane guest appeared on many series, sitcoms and comedy shows. His first appearance in a TV series was in 2002 when he guested in „Gilmore Girls“.
In 2006 he appeared in „The War at Home“ and later in „Star Trek: Enterprise“. Seth also acted in „The Forgotten“ and „Affliction“.
He appeared in the movie „Life is Short“, also in 2006.
He guests on radio talk shows like „Loveline“.
He appeared on many TV talk shows like „Jimmy Kimmel Live!“ and „Late Show with David Letterman“.
He gave his voice to many characters in animated series. He said that this experience was one of the most fun ones he had ever come across because he lived through the eyes of other characters.
He voiced characters in „Robot Chicken“, „Yin Yang Yo!“ and „Futurama“. He said that this had been a very versatile experience and that he would enjoy doing more of this as time goes by.
In 2010 he became Ziggy in a fantasy comedy movie called „Tooth Fairy“. He also voiced „Phineas and Ferb“, „The Simpsons“ and the animated movie „Sing“.
In 2017 he starred alongside Channing Tatum in a comedy movie „Logan Lucky“.
As for his political views, he was always a big supporter of the Democratic Party and made huge donations for Barck Obama during his campaign.
His views are considered progressive and he voted for the legalization of cannabis.
He also supports gay rights. Many people in the media have judged him for this, but he says that he wants to support each and every human being in their intention of being kind and true to themselves.
Seth often visits college campuses where he made speeches and they are very popular since he uses his voice roles to do it.
During the Writers Guild of America Strike in 2007 and 2008, he completely participated in it which put the production of „Family Guy“ on hold.
He is a huge fan of Carl Sagan and he donated funds to create The Seth MacFarlane Collection of his work.
Seth MacFarlane Personal life
As for his personal life he has dated a lot. He dated a colleague actress Nicole Sullivan from 1998 to 2000. He briefly dated Tamera Mowry – Housley and Christa Campbell in 2006.
He also dated Jessica Barth that year. She had a role in his movie “Ted” where he also appeared. He has bad luck when it comes to women, many say, while others think that it’s a very practical thing that he is always changing partners because he never has to settle down.
He was in a short relationship with Kat Foster in 2007 and 2008. One year later he started dating a beautiful model and actress Eliza Dushku but they ended it in 2009.
He also dated Kate Todd around that time.
In 2009 he was linked with Kaylee DeFer, Ashley Greene, Katie Sah, and Audrina Patridge.
One of his longest relationships was with Trisha Cunnings in the period from 2010 to 2012.
He briefly dated his co-worker Alexandra Breckenridge in 2011.
Seth also dated a popular actress Emilia Clarke in 2012/2013. Emilia is 13 years younger than him. This relationship wasn’t too strong.
Today he is in a relationship with an actress called Halston Sage. This relationship has been the most serious one so far for Seth.
Seth is known to date younger women and most of his former girls were much younger than him. Halston is no different in it because she is born in 1993 which means that she is twenty years younger.
She is known for her appearance on the Nickelodeon series and in Orville. She met Seth while doing Orville, where he appears too.
Seth lives in a part of California called Beverly Hills, in a very luxurious mansion, surrounded by other stars.
In 2010, his mother Ann Perry Sager died of cancer and it was a huge shock for him although she was ill for a long time.
He said that he wants to donate more to other people and especially the research regarding cancer. It’s a very tough thing to lose someone you love this way, Seth has stated.
One of the most stressful things that happened to him was on September 11, 2011, where he missed his plane and it turned out to be a hijacked plane that struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
He said that he thinks about this quite a lot and that he is very thankful for his chance to live.
Quick summary
Full name: Seth Woodbury MacFarlane
Date of birth: October 26, 1973
Birthplace: Kent, Connecticut, United States
Age: 47
Profession: actor, producer, comedian, singer, writer, artist
Height: 1, 78m
Weight: 83 kg
Net Worth: $100 million