Martin Gerald Simmons (October 3, 1926 – April 29, 2020) was an American film and television producer, newspaper reporter for the ''

New York World-Telegram and Sun The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

'', and Executive Vice President of

Diners Club A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

, the first credit card company. Simmons gained his greatest fame while serving as the chief executive officer of Twenty First Century Communications (renamed National Lampoon Inc., after its best known product).

Life and career

Simmons was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926, the son of Kate (Shapiro), a homemaker, and Irving Simmons, a sign painter. Founded in 1967 by Simmons and fellow Diner's Club refugee Len Mogel, Twenty First Century Communications Inc. was created to publish a "counterculture" magazine called ''Cheetah''. While ''Cheetah'' failed, the partners had more success in the 1970s with '' Weight Watchers'' and '' National Lampoon'' magazines. Under Simmons' direction, National Lampoon's entire editorial staff was fired and replaced with his children (Michael Simmons and Andy Simmons), as well as Peter Kleinman and

Larry Sloman Larry "Ratso" Sloman (born July 9, 1950) is a New York-based author. Career Sloman was born into a middle-class Jewish family from Queens. His nickname Ratso came from Joan Baez who said Sloman looked like Dustin Hoffman's character Ratso Rizzo ...

. The magazine expanded into radio, theater, records and film. In March 1989, Simmons sold his ten-percent share in National Lampoon Inc. (Twenty First Century Communications having been renamed in 1979) to film producers

Daniel Grodnik Daniel Grodnik (born May 30, 1952) is an American film producer living in Los Angeles, California. In 1989, he and partner Tim Matheson took over ''National Lampoon'', becoming its chairman and CEO. Mr. Grodnik in is a member of the Producer's ...

and

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated '' Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 19 ...

for six dollars a share (more than $761,400), resigned as chairman of the board, and departed the company along with his son Michael Simmons. Simmons's film credits included acting as the producer of ''

National Lampoon's Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...

'' and the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' film series. He wrote seven books. His last one, ''Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Making of Animal House'', was published by St. Martin's Press in 2012. On April 29, 2020, Simmons died at the age of 93 in Los Angeles from a brief illness.

References

External links

*
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Matty 1926 births 2020 deaths American chief executives Film producers from New York (state) American financial businesspeople American magazine publishers (people) American newspaper reporters and correspondents Businesspeople from Brooklyn Television producers from New York City Journalists from New York City National Lampoon people Writers from Brooklyn