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Movies & TV

03rd Jan 2023

The Simpsons veteran Chris Ledesma dies after working on show for 33 years

Steve Hopkins

Chris Ledesma

‘A wonderful, hard working, very talented man’

An editor who worked on The Simpsons since its inception, has died age 64. Chris Ledesma, who edited the music, worked on the show from 1989 to 2022.

A touching tribute was made to Ledesma on the latest episode of the animated sitcom, with a title card that read: “In loving memory of Chris Ledesma.”

The animated version of the editor was shown sitting on the Simpsons sofa alongside Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and Bart, while holding up his conductor’s baton. The children were depicted joining in with the music, with Lisa on her saxophone, Maggie on the tambourine and Bart on the triangle.

Several members of The Simpsons crew have paid tribute to Ledesma, including Al Jean – who was one of the first members of the original writing staff on the series. He wrote on Twitter:

“A wonderful, hard working, very talented man who will be missed by all he knew.”

‘Chris Ledesma was a sweet, goofy guy with a giant heart’

The Simpsons animator Matthew Schofield said he felt “shocked and saddened” to learn of the death of Chris Ledesma.

“He very kindly arranged for me to sit in on the scoring session for my episode ‘Black Eyed, Please’ (he’s in the red shirt, that’s me on the right). A wonderful guy who genuinely loved his job. RIP Chris,” he said.

Writer Carolyn Omine wrote: “Chris Ledesma was a sweet man who loved his job and was really, really good at it. We miss him.”

Executive producer and showrunner Matt Selman wrote: “Chris Ledesma was a sweet, goofy guy with a giant heart — his amazing musical life is played out over 33 years of The Simpsons.”

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