Editing Seth MacFarlane (section)

==Early life and education==
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane was born on October 26, 1973, in [[Kent, Connecticut|Kent]], [[Connecticut]].<ref name="ignint" /> His parents, Ronald Milton MacFarlane (b. 1946) and Ann Perry (née Sager; 1947–2010), were born in [[Newburyport, Massachusetts]].<ref name="annperry" /> His younger sister [[Rachael MacFarlane|Rachael]] is also a voice actress. His maternal grandfather, [[Arthur Sager]], competed in the [[1928 Summer Olympics]] in [[track and field]]. MacFarlane's parents met in 1970 when they lived and worked in [[Boston]], and married later that year.<ref name="annperry" /> They moved to Kent in 1972, where Ann began working in the admissions office at [[South Kent School]]. She later worked in the college guidance and admissions offices at the [[Kent School]], a selective [[college preparatory school]], where Ronald was a teacher.<ref name="annperry" /><ref name="teacher">{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF920E64F34493&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=One-man campaign out for 'Family Guy' |work=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=July 2, 1999 |access-date=February 13, 2008 |quote=Seth MacFarlane has been out of prep school for eight years, but the headmaster is still on his case. The top administrator of the Kent School is leading a one-man campaign to get advertisers to drop The Family Guy, an animated TV comedy created by MacFarlane, a 1991 Kent alumnus. |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301201220/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF920E64F34493&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |url-status=live }}</ref>

As a child, MacFarlane developed an interest in illustration, and at the age of two he began drawing [[cartoon]] characters such as [[Fred Flintstone]] and [[Woody Woodpecker]].<ref name="usatoday">{{cite news|first=Gary|last=Levin|title='Dad' joins 'Guy' for yuks|date=February 2, 2005|publisher=[[Gannett Co. Inc.]]|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-02-macfarlane_x.htm|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=December 21, 2007|archive-date=October 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006022413/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-02-macfarlane_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> By age five, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in animation, and began by creating [[flip book]]s after his parents found a book on the subject for him.<ref name="studio1">{{cite video |people=MacFarlane, Seth |date=2009 |title= [[Inside the Actors Studio]] |medium=Television production |publisher= [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]] |quote= I was two years old when I started drawing... I knew by five that I wanted to get into animation, and there was just no... there was no information at the time. And I think my parents found one book on animation, that they scrounged up for me, and they got it from a library, you know, two towns over.}}</ref> Four years later, at nine, he began publishing a weekly comic strip, ''Walter Crouton'', for ''The Kent Good Times Dispatch'', the local newspaper; it paid him five dollars per week.<ref name="E" /><ref name="studio2">{{cite video |people=MacFarlane, Seth |date=2009 |title= Inside the Actors Studio |medium=Television production |publisher= Bravo |quote= Walter Crouton was a comic strip that I did for our local paper, and I started when I was about nine years old, and, I would do it every week for, you know, five bucks a pop.}}</ref> MacFarlane said in an October 2011 interview that as a child he was always "weirdly fascinated by the [[Mass (liturgy)|Communion]] ceremony". He created a strip with a character kneeling at the altar taking Communion and asking "Can I have fries with that?" The paper printed it and he got an "angry letter" from the local priest; it led to "sort of a little mini-controversy" in the town.<ref name=MusicToo>{{cite web |url= https://www.npr.org/2011/10/17/140946967/seth-macfarlane-tvs-family-guy-makes-music-too |title=Seth MacFarlane: TV's 'Family Guy' Makes Music, Too | work= [[Fresh Air]]| via= [[NPR]].org| date= October 17, 2011| access-date= August 2, 2020}}</ref> MacFarlane received his high school diploma in 1991 from the Kent School.<ref name="annperry" /><ref name="teacher" /> While there, he continued experimenting with animation, and his parents gave him an [[8 mm film|8 mm]] camera.<ref name="studio3">{{cite video |people=MacFarlane, Seth |date=2009 |title=Inside the Actors Studio |medium=Television production |publisher=Bravo |quote= I didn't really take a hard crack at {{interp|animation}} until I was in high school. My parents got me an 8&nbsp;mm movie camera.}}</ref>

After graduating from high school, MacFarlane attended the [[Rhode Island School of Design]] (RISD), where he majored in animation. As a student, he intended to work for [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney]], but changed his mind after seeing ''[[The Simpsons]]''.<ref>{{Cite web| url= https://www.biography.com/filmmaker/seth-macfarlane| title= Seth MacFarlane| work= biography.com| date= April 2, 2014| edition= January 2, 2020| access-date= August 2, 2020| archive-date= August 13, 2024| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240813165534/https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/seth-macfarlane| url-status= live}}</ref> During his time at RISD, he performed stand-up comedy.<ref name="The Hollywood Reporter">{{cite magazine |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/seth-macfarlane-family-guy-star-trek-247364 |title= Seth MacFarlane Secretly Wants 'Family Guy' to End; Relaunch 'Star Trek' for TV |magazine= [[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date= October 12, 2011 |access-date= March 10, 2014 |archive-date= February 20, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140220014603/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/seth-macfarlane-family-guy-star-trek-247364 |url-status= live }}</ref> He also starred in many student films, meeting future ''Family Guy'' cast member [[Mike Henry (voice actor)|Mike Henry]], whose brother Patrick was MacFarlane's classmate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/arts/television/30itzk.html|title=With 'The Cleveland Show,' Mike Henry Spins Off Into Uncharted Cartoon Territory|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|date=2009-08-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-05-01|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203074528/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/arts/television/30itzk.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In his senior year, he made his thesis film, ''[[The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve|The Life of Larry]]'', which became the inspiration for ''Family Guy''.<ref name="E">{{cite web| url= http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/celebs/c116217_seth_macfarlane.html |title=Seth MacFarlane – Profile| website= eonline.com |publisher=E! Online |access-date=December 20, 2007 |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803071401/http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/celebs/c116217_Seth_MacFarlane.html |archive-date= August 3, 2009 }}</ref> A professor submitted his film to the animation studio [[Hanna-Barbera]], where he was later hired.<ref name="harvard" /> He graduated in 1995 with a [[Bachelor of Fine Arts]] degree.<ref name="E" />