The Simpsons writer Don Payne dies

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Don Payne, the author behind hit TV series The Simpsons, has died after battling bone cancer. He was 48.

The four-time Emmy-winning writer, a self-professed “comic book geek”, co-wrote the script for Thor.

He was behind the scripts for My Super Ex-Girlfriend, starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and upcoming film Maximum Ride.

Payne started on The Simpsons in 1998 and wrote more than a dozen episodes of the long-running Fox series and served as a consulting producer on 100, the Hollywood Reporter said.

“Don was a wonderful writer and an even more wonderful man,” showrunner Al Jean said.

“He was beloved in the Simpsons community, and his untimely passing is terrible news to us all. I know he is up with Thor now looking down at us and smiling.”

Payne is survived by his wife Julie and three children.