Mona Simpson (The Simpsons)
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| The Simpsons character | |
 |
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| Mona Simpson | |
| Age | 60's |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Gray, (formerly brown) |
| Job | Fugitive |
| Relatives | Son: Homer Simpson Daughter-in-law: Marge Grandchildren: Bart, Lisa and Maggie Husband: Abraham. (See also Simpson family) |
| First appearance | "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" |
| Voice actor | Maggie Roswell, Glenn Close, Tress MacNeille |
- This article is about a character from the Simpsons. For the novelist, see: Mona Simpson.
Mona J. Simpson is a fictional character in the television series The Simpsons. The mother of Homer J. Simpson and estranged wife of Abraham Simpson, she is currently voiced by Glenn Close and has gone by a variety of pseudonyms over the years, including Penelope Olsen, Mona Stevens, Martha Stewart, Muddy Mae Suggins, and Anita Bonghit.
In recent episodes it has been established that her real name is, in fact, Mona Simpson. She was thought to be dead until it was discovered that she has been on the run from the law due to an encounter with power plant owner Charles Montgomery Burns many years ago.
While Homer was still a small child in the 1960s, Mona became increasingly caught up in the hippie movement and participated in various acts of political activism, her beliefs being ignited by seeing Joe Namath's long hair during Super Bowl III. On one of these acts, Mona and a gang of other activists protesting germ research entered Burns's laboratory and destroyed all the biological warfare experiments. As the gang escaped, she stayed behind to help a fallen Burns - who repaid her kindness with a threat. Since that night, Mona was forced to leave her family. Seeking to comfort his son, Abe lied and said Mona had died while Homer was at the movies. He continued the lie by claiming Walt Whitman's gravestone was actually Mona's.
While Mona's whereabouts were unknown for most of her life, it was later revealed that for several years she resided at a hippie commune where she painted a mural dedicated to her son Homer. She continued to care for him from afar, sending him care packages every week. However because Homer never tipped his letter carrier, none of them have been delivered and have instead been stored at the post office for years. It was revealed that she was unfaithful to Abe during this period but Abe didn't realize this.
When Homer fakes his own death in Mother Simpson, Mona hears the news and visits her son's open grave, into which Homer had just accidentally fallen. They are reunited, and Mona spends some quality time catching up with her family, but when Burns sees her at the post office and recognizes her face, she is forced to go on the run again. She is given secret information for escape from Chief Wiggum, because her crime rid Wiggum of his asthma.
In My Mother the Carjacker, Homer discovers a secret message left by her in a newspaper. After some time at a diner, she is found by the cops. She goes to trial for the crime she committed, but due to Homer's testimony she is acquitted. Mr. Burns later has her imprisoned for the minor charge of signing into a federal park under a false name (one pseudonym mentioned in this episode was "Anita Bonghit"). Homer attempts to break her free from the prison bus, but the chase ends in what appears to be her death when the bus drives off of a cliff and lands in the water, where it explodes, and sets off a rock avalanche which buries it. In truth, she narrowly escaped before the bus went off of the cliff, and is still on the run, last seen eating Rhode Island-style clam chowder.
According to the DVD commenatary, she was very loosely based on Weather Underground leader Bernadine Dohrn.
According to her various driver's licenses, her height is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), and her date of birth ranges from 5 May 1931, 26 November 1934, 18 October 1933, 18 July 1933, and 27 February 1925. The license with her real name gives the May 5, 1931 date, but since the Simpsons characters don't age it is assumed she is still in her 60's.
[edit] Aliases
In the two episodes she appeared in, she has been seen with numerous aliases, most likely to hide from the law:
- Mona Simpson
- Mona Stevens
- Martha Stewart
- Penelope Olsen
- Muddy Mae Suggins
- Anita Bonghit
Penelope Olsen was the name given to Mona in the book The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. Olsen may be her maiden name, and Penelope may be a middle name.
