Personal life

Lacusta is the wife of The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

star Dan Castellaneta

Dan Castellaneta

Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...

 (who voices Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 along with various other characters on The Simpsons). They met at an improvisational comedy class in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

Career

Lacusta and Castellaneta performed together regularly and had a sketch show on Chicago local radio, while in 1992 they starred in the show Deb & Dan's Show at Club Lux at Santa Monica Airport

Santa Monica Airport

Santa Monica Airport , also known as Santa Monica Municipal Airport, is a general aviation airport located largely in Santa Monica, California, United States. The airport is located about from the Pacific Ocean and north of LAX...

. Some of their comedy pieces were released on the 2002 CD I Am Not Homer

I Am Not Homer

I Am Not Homer is a 2002 comedy album by actor and comedian Dan Castellaneta, with additional input by Castellaneta's wife Deb Lacusta. The album is a collection of comedy sketches written and performed by Castellaneta and Lacusta, and was the follow-up to Castellaneta's previous all-music album...

. In 2003 she produced a multimedia exhibition about actor Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

 which included the films Being Brando and Starring Marlon Brando, which featured Castellaneta and Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria

Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...

 as Brando. Art in America

Art in America

Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...

said they "merge fantasy and reality in humorous, unexpected ways."

In the early 1990s, Lacusta and Castellaneta wrote a script for an episode of The Simpsons in which Barney becomes sober. They pitched their idea to show runner

Show runner

Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...

 Al Jean

Al Jean

Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...

. Jean liked the story, but turned it down because he felt that it was too similar to "Duffless

Duffless

"Duffless" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season and originally aired on the Fox network on February 18, 1993. After getting arrested for drunk driving, Homer tries to remain sober, at Marge's request. Meanwhile, Lisa attempts to prove that Bart is dumber than a hamster after he...

", an episode that the writers were already working on. They waited several years and offered their script, which they updated, to then-show runner Mike Scully

Mike Scully

Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...

, who liked it and had them make a few changes. Their script became the eleventh season

The Simpsons (season 11)

The Simpsons 11th season originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, beginning on Sunday, September 26, 1999, with "Beyond Blunderdome". The show runner for the 11th production season was Mike Scully...

 episode "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses

Days of Wine and D'oh'ses

"Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" is the eighteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 9, 2000...

", which first aired April 9, 2000. The two also wrote the episodes "Gump Roast

Gump Roast

"Gump Roast" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons’ thirteenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 21, 2002. In the episode, Homer Simpson is honored by the townspeople at a Friars' Club Roast, until it is interrupted by Kang and Kodos.The episode was...

", "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner

The Ziff Who Came to Dinner

"The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season, and the third of four episodes written by Simpsons voice actor Dan Castellaneta and his wife, Deb Lacusta...

", "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore

“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore” is the seventeenth episode of the seventeenth season of The Simpsons.-Plot:On movie night at the nuclear plant, Homer learns that the nuclear power plant is being shut down and outsourced to India. After Homer is sent to train the new employees, he becomes power-hungry...

", and "The Fight Before Christmas". In 2007

Writers Guild of America Awards 2006

The 59th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film and television writers of 2006.-Best Adapted Screenplay:The Departed - William Monahan...

, they were nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award

Writers Guild of America Award

The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...

 for the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore".

The Simpsons episodes

Lacusta has written the following episodes with her husband Castellaneta.

• "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses
  Days of Wine and D'oh'ses
  "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" is the eighteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 9, 2000...
  
  "
• "Gump Roast
  Gump Roast
  "Gump Roast" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons’ thirteenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 21, 2002. In the episode, Homer Simpson is honored by the townspeople at a Friars' Club Roast, until it is interrupted by Kang and Kodos.The episode was...
  
  "
• "The Ziff Who Came To Dinner
  The Ziff Who Came to Dinner
  "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season, and the third of four episodes written by Simpsons voice actor Dan Castellaneta and his wife, Deb Lacusta...
  
  "
• "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore
  Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore
  “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore” is the seventeenth episode of the seventeenth season of The Simpsons.-Plot:On movie night at the nuclear plant, Homer learns that the nuclear power plant is being shut down and outsourced to India. After Homer is sent to train the new employees, he becomes power-hungry...
  
  "
• "The Fight Before Christmas"

External links