Stephen Lee Viksten (July 19, 1960 – June 23, 2014) was an American television writer and voice actor who was best known for voicing the character Oskar Kokoshka on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

animated series '' Hey Arnold!''. Viksten also wrote multiple episodes of ''

Hey Arnold ''Hey Arnold!'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Craig Bartlett. It originally aired on Nickelodeon from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. The show centers on fourth grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandpare ...

'', ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, an ...

'', '' Recess'', '' Duckman'' and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. Viksten's sole contribution to the latter, season 22's "

Homer Scissorhands "Homer Scissorhands" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 8, 2011. Kristen Schaal guest stars in the episo ...

", was his final writing credit before his death.

Early life

Viksten was born in Ventura, California on July 19, 1960. His father was the vice president of the local

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...

. During his teenage years, Viksten's family moved to

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of ...

, where Viksten became editor of Arcadia High School's newspaper. After graduating from Arcadia High School in 1978, Viksten attended several universities including the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, and Cal State Fullerton, though he did not obtain a bachelor's degree.

Death

Viksten died on June 23, 2014, at age 53. The TV film '' Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie'', released three years later, was dedicated to his memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viksten, Steve 1960 births 2014 deaths American male voice actors American television writers California State University, Fullerton alumni American male television writers Male actors from California People from Arcadia, California People from Ventura, California University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Missouri alumni Screenwriters from California