Four-time Emmy-winning animation producer J. Michael Mendel passed away at his home in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles at the age of 54.

Mendel is best known for his longtime work on the smash hit show The Simpsons and Rick And Morty, as well as The Tracy Ullman Show.

Within hours of the devastating news, some of his longtime colleagues took to social media to pay tribute to their friend.

Mendel’s wife Juel Bestrop, an Emmy-winning casting director who’s worked on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Life In Pieces, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he died of natural causes.

Mendel’s animated credits also include The PJs, Napoleon Dynamite, The Oblongs, The Critic, Kid Notorious, Drawn Together, Good Vibes, Shut Up and The Pitts.