Happy birthday, Seth MacFarlane! The actor and animator turns 43 today.

Born in Connecticut, MacFarlane was raised by parents Ronald and Ann in New England. At a young age, MacFarlane knew he wanted to work as an animator. When he was five years old, the boy began creating flip books for his family and would go on to self-publish DIY comic strips like “Walter Crouton.” MacFarlane pursued his interest in art throughout school and even went on to study animation at the Rhode Island School of Design.

After graduation, MacFarlane went to work at Hanna-Barbera after impressing the studio with his writing sensibilities. He worked on numerous series for Cartoon Network such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and Johnny Bravo.

However, MacFarlane is best known for a completely different series: Family Guy. The animator created the prime-time cartoon to Fox, and the crudely-drawn series debuted in January 1999. The show was a quick success, and it stands amongst other animated giants like The Simpsons today. MacFarlane’s work on Family Guy led him to create other series such as American Dad! and The Cleveland Show as well.

(Photo: Relativity Media)

Outside of being an animator and voice actor for the small screen, MacFarlane has also expanded his career to cinema features. He made his live-action directorial debut in 2012 with Ted and return for Ted 2 in 2015. MacFarlane also co-wrote A Million Ways to Die in the West.

In the future, MacFarlane has a steady line-up of series he is working on. Earlier this year, FOX picked up a sci-fi comedy series named Orville which MacFarlane executive produced.

Happy birthday, Seth!