Martin Gerald Simmons (October 3, 1926 – April 29, 2020) was an American film and television producer, newspaper reporter for the New York World-Telegram and Sun, and Executive Vice President of Diner's Club, the first credit card company. Simmons gained his greatest fame while serving as the chief executive officer of Twenty First Century Communications. Simmons was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926, the son of Kate (Shapiro), a homemaker, and Irving Simmons, a sign painter. Founded in 1967 by Simmons and fellow Diner's Club refugee Len Mogel, Twenty First Century was created to publish a "counterculture" magazine called Cheetah. While Cheetah failed, the partners had more success in the 1970s with Weight Watchers and National Lampoon magazines. Under Simmons' direction, National Lampoon's entire editorial staff was fired and replaced with his children (Michael Simmons and Andy Simmons), as well as Peter Kleinman and Larry Sloman. The magazine expanded into radio, theater, records and film.Simmons's film credits included acting as the producer of National Lampoon's Animal House and the National Lampoon's Vacation film series. He wrote seven books. His last one, Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Making of Animal House, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2012.On April 29, 2020, Simmons died at the age of 93 in Los Angeles from a brief illness.