No one around here asks, ‘Who’s Seth MacFarlane?’

KENT — When they tuned in to the Academy Awards this year, many people asked, “Who’s Seth MacFarlane?” In Kent, no one had to ask that question of the young man who left his hometown of Kent and headed west to begin a successful career in Hollywood as an actor, animator, screenwriter, comedian, producer, director, singer — and, this year, Academy Awards host. Perhaps best known for creating the animated television series, “Family Guy,” MacFarlane, 39, is a native of Kent. His mother, Ann (known as “Perry”), and his father, Ronald, worked for the Kent School. MacFarlane has a younger sister, Rachael. None of MacFarlane’s family members remain here. His mother died in 2010; his father relocated to California. His sister is also a voiceover actress and singer. She has worked on popular children’s shows such as “Powerpuff Girls,” “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.”KCS and Kent SchoolMacFarlane attended Kent Center School and then the Kent School before heading off to the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, R.I., where he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in film, video and animation.Although he’s been away from the Northwest Corner for decades now, he remains in touch with the community and is well-remembered by many who knew him as a youngster. First Selectman Bruce Adams was a teacher at Kent Center School (KCS) and taught seventh- and eighth-grade social studies and mathematics to MacFarlane.“Seth was all about cartooning,” Adams recalled. Even as a youngster, his work was regularly published in the former Kent Good Times Dispatch newspaper.Adams still has several cartoons MacFarlane did when he was at Kent Center School, including one he shared with The Lakeville Journal. That cartoon, Adams said, “shows Seth’s interpretation of me, on the right, when I had hair on my head and a mustache, stopping a kid who was running through the schoolyard at breakneck speed.” At the top of the cartoon, MacFarlane wrote, “The cartoonist who drew this picture chooses to remain anonymous, to avoid being busted by whoever does the busting around here.”Adams said, “My recollection is that Seth was an above-average student, but not outstanding. He was always funny and witty.” And he showed promise.“Everyone who knew Seth in his school days here in Kent thought he would one day be successful in cartooning or something.”Adams, and others interviewed for this article, said MacFarlane is a very generous person, to the town where he grew up and in general.When Kent Center School was in need of a new basketball court, Adams spoke with Paulette Pizzo, partner in the former Doc’s Restaurant, who went to school with MacFarlane and remains a good friend of his.Pizzo contacted MacFarlane, who called Adams.“Within a week,” Adams said, “the town had a $30,000 check from him to rebuild the basketball court.” The basketball court was dedicated to the memory of Don Gowan II, a beloved teacher and coach at Kent Center. And when Don Gowan III died last year, MacFarlane donated $50,000 in memory of his former classmate to the Kent Center School scholarship fund.Each year MacFarlane also supports the Kent Charity Golf Classic, sponsored by the local Lions Club and the Kent Chamber of Commerce.Hardworking but funPizzo, in an interview with The Lakeville Journal, remains in regular contact with her former classmate. He told her he was nervous no one would know who he was when he hosted the Academy Awards. As it turns out, Pizzo said, the show generated unusually high ratings and also drew in the young demographic that advertisers want — and that had been lacking for recent Oscar telecasts.She credited his success to his work ethic. “He works like a dog,” she said. “He is always working.”She also said he is a “brilliant talent,” and always has been, “even as a student here in Kent.” But he is, above all, really funny.“He always had a pencil and notebook in hand and we could always count on him for laughs,” she said.Perhaps most important, though: “He is the most giving human being I know, very generous in every way. All my feelings for him are positive.”She described him as “very down to earth” and as a person who, despite his success, “is the same kid I knew in school.”Pizzo said MacFarlane comes from a musical family. His late mother was a singer and his father plays guitar and sings.When they were teenagers, Pizzo and MacFarlane worked together at the former Stosh’s ice cream store in Kent. Pizzo said, “Seth would sit and draw all through his shift. I would have to prod him to stop drawing and get to work.”Cartooning was the work he considered most important, though. Pizzo recalled that during the annual summertime Kent Village festival, “he would sit in front of the House of Books and charge passersby $5 to draw their caricature. He would sit in his chair all day long, from Thursday through Sunday.” Marge Smith, director of the Kent Historical Society, has been a longtime friend of the MacFarlane family. Rachael MacFarlane was a flowergirl at Smith’s wedding, and Perry MacFarlane, Seth’s mother, was a close friend. “Both of his parents were very devoted to their children,” she said, adding that fun was also important to them all. “They had an upbeat way of approaching life,” she said.