Krusty the Clown

Sir Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky, also known by his stage name Krusty the Clown, is a recurring character on The Simpsons. Dan Castellaneta provides his voice. He has long been the clown host of Bart and Lisa's favorite TV show, a mix of kiddie variety shows and cartoons such as The Itchy & Scratchy Show. Krusty is frequently portrayed as a cynical, burnt-out, addiction-ridden smoker who is made miserable by show business but perseveres. He has become one of the most frequently appearing characters outside of the main Simpson family, and he has been the subject of several episodes, many of which also feature Sideshow Bob.

Krusty was created by Matt Groening and was inspired in part by Rusty Nails, a television clown from Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon. He was created to resemble Homer Simpson with clown makeup, with the original concept being that Bart worships a television clown who is actually his own father in disguise. His voice is based on Bob Bell, who played Bozo the Clown on WGN-TV. Krusty is a multimillionaire who made his fortune primarily by licensing his name and image to a variety of low-quality products and services, ranging from Krusty alarm clocks to Krusty crowd control barriers. Many of these products are potentially hazardous, such as Krusty's cereal brand, Krusty-O's, which boasts a jagged metal Krusty-O in each box in one episode. Krusty wastes money almost as fast as he earns it: lighting his cigarettes with hundred-dollar bills, eating condor-egg omelets, spending huge sums on pornographic magazines and call girls, and losing a fortune gambling on everything from horse races to operas and betting against the Harlem Globetrotters. Krusty is a hard-living entertainment veteran, sometimes depicted as a jaded, burned-out has-been, who has been down and out several times and remains addicted to gambling, cigarettes, alcohol, Percodan, Pepto-Bismol, and Xanax.

First appearance: The Krusty the Clown Show (1989)