Homer Simpson

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**Homer Jay Simpson**
The Simpsons character

Age	36-39 (Depends on episode)
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Balding, formerly brown
Job	Safety Inspector at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Relatives	Wife: Marge Children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie Parents: Abraham and Mona Half siblings: Herb Powell and Abbie Uncles: Tyrone (deceased) Cyrus. (See also Simpson family)
First appearance	The Tracey Ullman Show, Simpsons short 'Good Night' (Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire)
Voice actor	Dan Castellaneta

Homer Jay Simpson is a main character in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He has become a popular character and an American icon; his signature annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary.^[1] Homer is named after and loosely based on show creator Matt Groening's father and his voice was originally based on Walter Matthau.^[2]

The early seasons of the show focused primarily on Bart, but as the series went on and "Bartmania" died down, Homer became more of a focus. Homer embodies several negative working class American stereotypes. He has a low-level job and is uneducated, crude, overweight, intolerant, inept, and a borderline alcoholic. Despite being gluttonous, lazy, and often simple-minded, Homer has displayed flashes of brilliance. In spite of his apparently blue-collar status, he has had a number of remarkable adventures. Although often inept, he is a caring and devoted husband and father.

1 Character origins
2 Biography
3 Personality
4 Cultural influence
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Character origins

Homer was first conceived by Matt Groening in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening was going to try to pitch his comic strip Life in Hell. However, he realized that doing so would force him to give up the rights, so he created a family of characters literally in fifteen minutes. He named the father of the family Homer after his own dad, and a legendary television character was born.^[3] Homer made his debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on April 19, 1987 in the Tracey Ullman short ""Good Night".^[4] In the Ullman Shorts, as well as the early seasons of the show, Homer's voice was based on Walter Matthau but Dan Castellaneta found it hard to have a complete emotional range and around the season 2 episode Blood Feud, his voice began to evolve into what it is today.^[5]

[edit] Biography

Homer as a teenager

Although The Simpsons has a floating timeline in which the characters do not age and the show is set in the current year, there have been certain dates given. For example, Homer Simpson was born c. May 10, 1955^[2] in Springfield is a Taurus,^[6] and was raised on a farm with his parents, Mona and Abraham Simpson. In the mid-1960s, while Homer was between nine and twelve years of age, Mona went into hiding following a run in with the law.^[7] Homer attended Springfield High School and fell in love with Marge Bouvier in 1974.^[8]^[9] Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980, while Homer worked at a miniature golf course, turning the crank that spins the windmill (sometimes too quickly). The two were wed in a small wedding chapel across the state line,^[10] spent their wedding reception alone at a truck stop,^[11] and the rest of their wedding night was at Marge's parent's house. After failing to get a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer left Marge to find a job with which he could support his family and briefly worked at a taco restaurant until Marge found him and convinced to return. As a result, Homer confronts Mr. Burns and secures a job at the Plant.^[10] Marge became pregnant with Lisa in 1983, shortly before the new couple bought their new house. In 1985 and 1986, Homer saw brief success as the lead singer and songwriter for the barbershop quartet the Be Sharps, even winning a Grammy. During his time with the group, Homer was frequently absent from home, putting stress on his marriage with Marge. After the group broke up due to creative differences, Homer went back to Springfield to continue his old life.^[12] Some time in the late 1980s, Homer and Marge carefully budgeted their money so Homer can work his dream job as a pin monkey in a bowling alley. Unfortunately for Homer, Marge became pregnant shortly after he started his new job, and not being able to support his family, he went back to the Nuclear Plant.^[13]

According to comments made on Simpsons DVDs by the writers and producers, Homer's age was initially 36, but as the writers aged, they found that Homer seemed a bit older, so they changed his age to 38.^[14]

[edit] Personality

Homer strangles Bart in many episodes, because of something Bart has said or done bad or stupid

Homer's personality is one of frequent stupidity, laziness and explosive anger. He also suffers from a short attention span which complements his intense but short-lived passion for hobbies, enterprises and various causes. Homer says of himself, "When I'm passionate about something, I see it through to the end." Homer is prone to emotionalism, he gets very envious of his neighbors, the Flanders, is easily enraged at his son, Bart, and strangles him in an exaggerated manner. He shows no compunction about this, and does not attempt to hide his actions from people outside the family, even leaving Bart alone at a port.^[15] While Homer has repeatedly upset people and caused all sorts of mayhem in Springfield, these events are usually caused by either his explosive temper or a lack of foresight. Except for expressing annoyance at Ned Flanders, Homer's actions are usually unintentional. Most of his explosive anger targets on Bart, because of something stupid or bad he had said or done. However, these common outbursts save Homer from dying of pent-up rage.^[16]

Homer has a sense of humour similar to that of Mel Brooks. Homer tends to derive amusement from the misfortune of others. Homer is a chronic petty thief and borderline kleptomaniac, stealing from Ned Flanders everything from TV trays to power tools and air conditioners. He has also stolen golf balls from the local driving range, office supplies (including computers) from work, and beer mugs from Moe's Tavern.

Homer has a vacuous mind, but he is still able to retain a great amount of knowledge about very specific subjects, unlike Bart. He shows small bursts of astonishing foresight, memory, creativity and fluency with many languages in nearly every episode. In some episodes he has displayed a polished talent for singing and songwriting^[12]. However, Homer’s brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed by much longer and consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness and stupidity. Homer has low IQ due to his hereditary "Simpson Gene",^[17] his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma,^[18] and a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain.^[19]

It has been suggested in some episodes that Homer's normal functions do not require the use of his brain, as Homer has at times debated against his own brain. Occasionally, a specific body part is portrayed debating with his brain, such as his face, stomach or liver. He has also been known to think of himself as two people. This is first hinted at in Treehouse of Horror IV, when Homer ate his emergency donut and left a note for himself saying "Dear Homer, I.O.U. one emergency donut, Signed Homer". After reading the note later, he referred to himself as a bastard who is always one step ahead. He also frequently confuses himself with ontological paradoxes, in which he frequently confuses other's lives with his (see Dinnertime conversation with Marge regarding painting portraits of Ringo Star in Mom and Pop Art), and has been known from time to time to grow confused with the boundary between persons in large conversations that have rapid exchanges (see: the breakfast table conversation after Lisa ruins his barbecue in Lisa the Vegetarian).

[edit] Cultural influence

The Simpsons' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Due to the success of The Simpsons, Homer has been an influenced in various facets of society, such as the introduction of the expression "D'oh!" into the Oxford English Dictionary.^[1] In 2002, Homer placed second on TV Guide's Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, after Bugs Bunny.^[20] In 2005, Homer Simpson was listed fifth on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters.^[21] He is one of only four cartoon characters on the list, along with Eric Cartman (#19) and Rocky & Bullwinkle (#54). Furthermore, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted Homer first place in 2001's 100 Greatest TV Characters. On May 30, 2003, Homer was made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Canada. This was to recognize the fact that Matt Groening's father - Homer Groening - was likely from the Manitoba capital.^[22]