Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a cartoon character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He first appeared, along with the other members of the Simpson family on The Tracey Ullman Show in the Simpson Short "Good Night". He is the father of Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson, and Maggie Simpson. He is also the husband of Marge Simpson. He lives in the fictional town known as Springfield.

 Characteristics 
Homer is clumsy, fat and very lazy. He is also an alcoholic, and is not very intelligent. He works as a Safety Inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Homer is one of the most popular and famous fictional characters and is thought of as one of the greatest comedic animated characters of modern times. Although Homer seems selfish, he does actually care for his family. In one episode he entered Lisa in a beauty contest so she could feel better about herself. He is often heard saying "D'oh!" which has become an often used word when things go wrong. He likes to drink Duff Beer and is often seen hanging out at Moe's Tavern with his best friends Carl Carlson, Lenny Leonard, and Barney Gumble.

 Creation 
Homer’s name derives from the Greek Homeros (Ὅμηρος). Homer is the name of the Greek poet who wrote the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer is named after Simpsons creator Matt Groening's own father. Matt Groening first drew the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. After he had decided not to do his "Life in Hell" cartoon series, he quickly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, with Homer being named after his father. Homer's middle initial "J," which was discovered to stand for "Jay",The_Simpsons "D'oh-in_in_the_Wind" November 15, 1998 was a "tribute" to Bullwinkle J. Moose from Rocky and Bullwinkle, a show Matt Groening loved as a child. In a TV Guide poll, Homer was named as the second greatest cartoon character, behind Bugs Bunny.

 Homer Simpson syndrome 
A five-year study of more than 2,500 middle-aged people in France found a possible connection between weight and brain function, named as the "Homer Simpson syndrome". Results from a word memory test showed that people with a BMI of 20 (considered to be a healthy level) remembered an average of 9 out of 16 words. Meanwhile, people with a BMI of 30 (inside the obese range) remembered an average of 7 out of 16 words.

 References 

 Other websites 
 Biography from the official Simpsons website

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1987
Category:The Simpsons characters
Category:Animated human characters