'The Simpsons' Producer, Don Payne Dies From Bone Cancer: Writer Of 'Thor' and "Fantastic Four' Sequel Loses Battle With Cancer

The producer of "The Simpsons," Don Payne died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home.

According John Fink, a friend of Paynes told the Los Angeles Times that Payne lost a battle with bone cancer.

Payne's death, according to friend and an executive producer for "The Simpson," John Frink, occurred in his Los Angeles home on Tuesday, March 26. Frink added that Payne's death resulted from a losing battle with bone cancer.

Besides "The Simpsons," Payne co-wrote "Thor" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

Don Payne joined "The Simpsons" staff in 2000 after the show already made a name for it for the past 11 years. The cartoon show features the Simpson family, which gets into shenanigans throughout the town of Springfield.

During his time with "The Simpsons," Payne was a writer, producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer and consulting producer.

Payne shared (with the show's other producers) four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program for his work on "The Simpsons" and won the Paul Selvin Award from the Writers Guild of America for writing the 2005 episode "Fraudcast News," according to Deadline.com.

Payne is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Another executive producer for "The Simpsons," Al Jean told Star-News that "Don was a wonderful writer and an even more wonderful man. He was beloved in the 'Simpsons' community and his untimely passing is terrible news to us all."