Seth MacFarlane is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer known for his work in film, television, and music. He has received several awards including five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, a Producers Guild of America Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, and five Grammy Awards. He has received special honors such as a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019 and was inducted in the Television Hall of Fame in 2020.
He is known for creating and voicing several characters in the animated television shows Family Guy (1999–present), American Dad! (2005–present), and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013) and the science fiction series The Orville (2017–2022). His film projects include Ted (2012), A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), and Ted 2 (2015). He has also released eight studio albums Music Is Better Than Words (2011), Holiday for Swing (2014), No One Ever Tells You (2015), In Full Swing (2017), Once in a While (2019), Great Songs from Stage & Screen (2020), Blue Skies (2022), and We Wish You the Merriest (2023).
He received an Academy Award for Best Original Song nomination for "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted (2012) at the 85th Academy Awards. He hosted that same ceremony for which he earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) nomination. He made his directorial film debut with Ted earning a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Comedy nomination. He received five Grammy Award nominations three of which were for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his albums Music Is Better Than Words (2011), No One Ever Tells You (2015), and In Full Swing (2017). He was also Grammy nominated for Best Comedy Album for Family Guy: Live in Vegas (2006).
For his work on the animated series Family Guy he received five Primetime Emmy Awards, four of which were for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. He received two British Academy Television Award for Best International Programme nominations for Family Guy in 2008 and 2010. For the show he also received six Teen Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, a People's Choice Award, a Producers Guild of America Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award. For producing the documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014) he received a Peabody Award, the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Reality Series, and Producers Guild of America Award for Best Non-Fiction Television.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2013 Best Original Song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" (from Ted)
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Television Awards 2008 Best International Programme Family Guy 2010 Best International Programme
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Primetime Emmy Awards2000 Outstanding Animated ProgramFamily Guy Outstanding Voice-Over Performance 2002 Outstanding Music and Lyrics "You've Got a Lot to See" (from Family Guy: Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows) 2005 Outstanding Animated ProgramFamily Guy 2006 Outstanding Animated Program 2008 Outstanding Animated Program 2009 Outstanding Comedy Series Outstanding Animated Program American Dad! Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Family Guy 2010 Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics "Down's Syndrome Girl" (from Family Guy: Extra Large Medium) 2011 Outstanding Animated Program The Cleveland Show Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics "Christmastime Is Killing Us" (from Family Guy: Road to the North Pole) 2012 Outstanding Animated Program American Dad! 2013 Outstanding Special Class Program 85th Academy Awards Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Family Guy 2014 Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Outstanding Character Voice-Over PerformanceFamily Guy 2015 Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance 2016 Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance 2017 Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance 2018 Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance American Dad! 2019 Outstanding Character Voice-Over PerformanceFamily Guy 2021 Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2006 Best Comedy Album Family Guy: Live in Vegas 2012 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Music Is Better Than Words Best Song Written for Visual Media "Christmastime Is Killing Us" (from Family Guy: Road to the North Pole) 2016 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album No One Ever Tells You 2018 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album In Full Swing
Critics associations Organizations Year Category Project Result Astra Awards 2022 Best Broadcast Network or Cable Animated SeriesFamily Guy 2023 Best Broadcast Network or Cable Animated Series 2024 Best Streaming Comedy SeriesTed Best Directing in a Streaming Comedy Series Best Writing in a Streaming Comedy Series Best Voice-Over Performance 2025 Best Lead Voice-Over Performance Family Guy Critics' Choice Awards 2012 Best Animated Series Family Guy 2013 Best Comedy Ted 2014 Best Animated Series Family Guy Best Reality Series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 2015 Louis XIII Genius Award Seth MacFarlane Georgia Film Critics Association 2013 Best Original Song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" (from Ted) International Documentary Association Awards 2014 Best Limited Series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2012 Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera Ted St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association2012 Best Comedy Ted TCA Awards 2014 Outstanding Achievement in News and Information Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
Miscellaneous awards Organizations Year Category Project Result Annie Awards 1999 Outstanding Music in an Animated Television ProductionFamily Guy 2006 Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production 2009 Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers 2013 Top Television Series Family Guy Top Television Series American Dad! Top Television Series The Cleveland Show Top Box Office Films Ted The Comedy Awards 2011 Best Animated Comedy Series Family Guy Best Animated Comedy Series American Dad! 2012 Best Animated Comedy Series Family Guy DVD Exclusive Awards 2006 Best Overall Movie, Animated DVD Premiere Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story Best Animated Character Performance Empire Awards 2013 Best Comedy Ted Environmental Media Awards 2014 Best Reality Television Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Genesis Awards 2010 Sid Caesar Comedy Award Family Guy GLAAD Media Awards 2007 Outstanding Individual TV Episode American Dad! Award Recipients: 18th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, Westin St. Francis in San Francisco Retrieved on November 9, 2008 Golden Raspberry Awards 2015 Worst ActorA Million Ways to Die in the West Worst Director Worst Screen Combo Jupiter Awards 2012 Best International Film Ted MTV Movie & TV Awards 2013 Movie of the Year Ted Best Shirtless Performance Best Fight Best On-Screen Duo Best WTF Moment 2016 Best Virtual Performance Ted 2 2017 Best Comedic Performance Family Guy National Cartoonists Society Division Awards 2009 Television Animation Award Family Guy Peabody Award 2015 Peabody Award Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey People's Choice Awards 2007 Favorite Animated ComedyFamily Guy 2008 Favorite Animated Comedy 2009 Favorite Animated Comedy 2011 Favorite TV Family 2013 Favorite Comedy Movie Ted 'The Hunger Games' wins big at People's Choice Awards 2014 Favorite New TV Comedy Dads Glee, Katy Perry Lead People's Choice Award Nominations, 2 Broke Girls' Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs to Host E! Online, Retrieved November 5, 2013 2015 Favorite Animated TV Show Family Guy Favorite Animated TV Show American Dad! 2016 Favorite Animated TV Show Family Guy Favorite Animated TV Show American Dad! Favorite Comedic Movie Ted 2 2017 Favorite Animated TV Show Family Guy Favorite Animated TV Show American Dad! PRISM Awards 2009 Best Comedy Episode American Dad! Producers Guild of America Awards 2015 Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Satellite Awards 2004 Best DVD Release of TV Shows Family Guy Saturn Awards 2008 Best Television Presentation Family Guy 2013 Best Fantasy Film Ted Truitt, Brian (June 27, 2013). 'Avengers,' 'Breaking Bad' top Saturn Award winners, USA Today. Retrieved June 26, 2013. 2016 Best Fantasy Film Ted 2 2017 Best Animated Series or Film on Television Family Guy 2018 Best Science Fiction Television SeriesThe Orville Best Actor on Television Best Animated Series or Film on Television Family Guy 2019 Best Science Fiction Television SeriesThe Orville Best Actor on Television Best Animated Series on Television Family Guy 2021 Best Animated Series or Film on Television Family Guy 2022 Best Science Fiction Television Series The Orville 2024 Robert Forster Artist's Award Seth MacFarlane Spike Guys' Choice Awards 2012 Funniest M.F. Seth MacFarlane 2013 Guy Movie of the Year Ted Spike Video Game Awards 2006 Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show Family Guy Video Game! Best Performance by a Male Best Cast Teen Choice Awards 2005 Choice TV Show: Comedy Family Guy Choice TV Actor: Comedy Choice TV Chemistry Choice TV Sidekick Choice TV: Choice Summer Series American Dad! Choice TV: Choice V-Cast 2006 Choice Animated Series Choice Animated SeriesFamily Guy 2007 Choice Animated Series 2008 Choice Animated Series Choice Animated Series American Dad! 2009 Choice Animated Series Family Guy Choice Animated Series American Dad! 2010 Choice Animated Series Family Guy Choice Animated Series American Dad! Choice Animated Series The Cleveland Show 2011 Choice Animated Series Family Guy Choice TV Villain Choice Animated Series American Dad! Choice Animated Series The Cleveland Show 2012 Choice Animated Series Family Guy Choice Summer Movie: Comedy or MusicTed Choice Movie Voice Choice Movie Chemistry 2013 Choice Animated Series Family Guy 2014 Choice Animated Series Family Guy Choice Reality Series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 2015 Choice Animated Series Family Guy 2016 Choice Animated Series Family Guy 2017 Choice Animated Series Family Guy 2018 Choice Animated Series Family Guy Webby Awards 2009 Film & Video Person of the Year Seth MacFarlane Writers Guild of America Awards 2015 Animation Writers Caucus Animation Writing Award Seth MacFarlane Young Artist Awards 2008 Best Family Television Series The Winner
Honorary awards Organizations Year Notes Result Hollywood Walk of Fame2019 Television Star Television Hall of Fame 2020 Inducted
See also Seth MacFarlane filmography Seth MacFarlane discography
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