Maxtone-Graham was born in New York City, the son of maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham. He is the great-nephew of Jan Struther, the writer of Mrs. Miniver. He attended Trinity School and Brown University. An enthusiastic swimmer, his first job after college was as a diver with an underwater research team. After struggling to establish a career in journalism, he penned material for the television showNot Necessarily the News and the magazines National Lampoon and Army Man. His work inArmy Man, an offbeat magazine published by future Simpsons colleague George Meyer, brought him to the attention of Jack Handey, who suggested he work for Saturday Night Live.
''Saturday Night Live''
While working for Saturday Night Live, Maxtone-Graham co-wrote "The Chanukah Song" with Adam Sandler and, according to the DVD commentary for the SNLclip show "The Best of Alec Baldwin," also wrote the infamous "Canteen Boy" sketch in which Canteen Boy is sexually molested by his scoutmaster, Mr. Armstrong. According to the memoir of Jay Mohr, Ian Maxtone-Graham threatened to quit and sue the show during the 1993-94 season after an altercation with Norm Macdonald: the lawsuit never came to fruition. During all-night Saturday Night Live writing sessions, Sarah Silverman often stole underwear and socks from a cache of fresh clothes Maxtone-Graham kept in his office, and wore them in lieu of her own clothes.
''The Simpsons''
Maxtone-Graham has become somewhat infamous among The Simpsons fans for a 1998 interview with The Independent, in which he admitted that he had "barely" seen The Simpsons before being hired, and ridiculed "the beetle-browed people on the internet" for their criticism of the show. Although he upset many fans with his comments, Maxtone-Graham has won six Emmys for his work on The Simpsons, and received an Annie Award for writing "The Seemingly Neverending Story". One of the episodes written by Maxtone-Graham is "E-I-E-I-", in which Homer grows a tomato-tobacco hybrid called "tomacco". The episode was widely acclaimed from viewers and critics alike. Notably, it inspired an Oregon man to make his own version of tomacco by grafting a tomato stem with a tobacco root. He eventually gave some to Maxtone-Graham, who ate it. At 6'8", Maxtone-Graham inspired a character on The Simpsons: "Very Tall Man", who first appeared in "22 Short Films About Springfield".
