Sam Simon, who co-created The Simpsons with Matt Groening, donated a huge amount of money to American Atheists, a charity which aimed to debunk religions.

Simon died on Sunday from cancer aged 59. During his lifetime, donated an undisclosed amount of his vast wealth to American Atheists, which posts stridently anti-religion posters throughout the United States. Simon himself also helped organise atheist rallies.

Simon left the programme in 1993, and his settlement deal entitled him to "tens of millions of dollars" every year. He told Vanity Fair in 2014 that he did follow religious precedent when it came to donating money.

“I’m an atheist, but there’s a thing called tithing that a lot of religions do. Ten percent was the minimum you were supposed to give to charity every year. And I always outdid that,” Simon said.

Politically incorrect children’s TV shows Show all 7 1 /7 Politically incorrect children’s TV shows Politically incorrect children’s TV shows Looney Tunes Looney Tunes, the name given to Bugs Bunny and related characters was politically incorrect. Bugs loved firearms and was not beyond carrying out the odd homicide, as in 1946’s Rhapsody Rabbit Politically incorrect children’s TV shows Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine was attacked in Canada for having only eight female characters out of 49 and having a “conservative political ideology” that saw Thomas slaving away for the Fat Controller Rex Politically incorrect children’s TV shows Popeye Popeye, the spinach-eating and highly aggressive sailor, first appeared in 1929 and became most politically incorrect during the Second World War, singing songs like “You’re a sap, Mr Jap” and calling America’s then foes “Japansies” Rex Politically incorrect children’s TV shows The Flintstones Barney and Fred, stars of The Flintstones, used to appear in adverts for the cigarette brand Winston, idling against a rock while having a fag break and leaving their wives to do the housework. “Winston tastes good as a cigarette should,” Fred would observe Politically incorrect children’s TV shows The Simpsons The Simpsons often appears politically incorrect while pushing a politically correct message. Witness the 1997 episode Homer Phobia, where the family visits a collectibles shop called Cockamamies run by a gay antique dealer called John. Homer is horrified but it wins awards for fighting prejudice Politically incorrect children’s TV shows SpongeBob SquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants lives in Bikini Bottom and has a friend called Sandy Cheeks AP Politically incorrect children’s TV shows Superted The story of a Welsh teddy bear with cosmic powers featured a talking skeleton with an effeminate voice, an overweight character called “Bulk” and a girl called “Blotch” with less than perfect skin

As well as giving money to American Atheists, he also founded the Sam Simon Foundation in 2002, part of which rescued animals from Los Angeles kill shelters and trained some of them to be 'hearing' dogs for the deaf, and some to help soldiers suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

American Atheists described him as a "strong advocate of atheist activism".

"He was a life member of American Atheists and an ardent supporter of our billboard campaigns," the groups said, "as well as the 2012 Reason Rally. We were honored to call him our friend and we will remember him warmly."

The Richard Dawkins foundation for Reason & Science posted a tribute to Simon, saying: "Sam Simon has known for some time now he was going to die. He’s bee[n] living with colorectal cancer.

"Unlike many super wealthy pastors, Simon knew he couldn’t take his wealth with him and has been giving boatloads of it to charity as his time on earth expired."

During his lifetime, Simon remained upbeat, saying that his experience with the terminal disease had been "amazing".