'The Simpsons'producer Don Payne dies

LOS ANGELES -- Don Payne, an award-winning writer and producer of "The Simpsons" and screenwriter of the 2011 blockbuster "Thor" as well as "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, said his friend and former writing partner John Frink. He was 48 and had bone cancer.

Payne was most recently a consulting producer on "The Simpsons," Fox's long-running animated series. Two episodes he wrote are in production and will air in the fall.

Born May 5, 1964, in Wilmington, N.C., Payne and Frink joined the writing staff of "The Simpsons" in 1998 and became part of the producing team in 2000.

Payne is survived by his wife, Julie; their sons, Nathaniel and Joshua; their daughter, Lila; his mother, Barbara Payne; a brother, John Payne, and a sister, Suzanne Fanning.