The Simpsons: The Real Life Inspirations Behind Krusty the Clown

Matt Groening took inspiration from those close to him to create the main characters of The Simpsons, but the inspirations behind Krusty the Clown are different. The Simpsons began as a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, and after three seasons, it was developed into a half-hour prime time show, officially debuting on Fox in 1989. The Simpsons became a big hit, and its popularity has allowed it to continue for years, and it’s now the longest-running American sitcom.

The Simpsons follows the daily lives of the title family and other notable citizens from the town of Springfield, among those Krusty the Clown. Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky, simply known as Krusty the Clown, is the host of The Krusty the Clown Show, one of Bart and Lisa’s favorite TV shows. Unlike other clowns, Krusty is not always happy nor with a good attitude, and instead is very cynical and smokes a lot, but he’s still very popular among kids, even if more often than not he says things on his show that are not appropriate for his target audience.

Krusty wasn’t inspired by someone close to Groening but by a peculiar character he used to watch when he was a child. That character is Rusty Nails (whose real name was James H. Allen), a Portland clown that Groening has described as sweet and who sometimes had a Christian message, but he still scared young Groening. Krusty’s voice, however, was based on a different TV personality: Dan Castellaneta, who voices Krusty among many other characters in The Simpsons, has said he based Krusty’s peculiar voice on Bob Bell a.k.a. Bozo the Clown, who had a very raspy voice.

Some parts of Krusty’s life – such as his Jewish background and his addictions – parallel those of comedian Jerry Lewis, but he hasn’t been confirmed as an inspiration for the character, with Groening dodging the question by saying that the characters from The Simpsons are “collaborations between the writers, animators, and actors”. As for his physical appearance, his design is pretty much that of Homer Simpson but with the characteristics of a clown. This is because the original idea was for Homer and Krusty to be the same person, as Bart didn’t respect his father but he looked up to a clown that looked just like him. The idea was eventually dropped, though it was used in the episode “Homie the Clown”, where Homer went to Clown College and dressed up as Krusty.

It’s fun and interesting to see how different the inspirations behind Krusty the Clown are to the actual character, as he’s far from a lively, cheerful clown with a Christian message like Rusty Nails, but he has more in common with Bozo the Clown, even if the only thing that was borrowed from him was his voice. As The Simpsons evolves, it wouldn’t be surprising if more modern personalities influence the characters, including Krusty, whose cynical attitude is more on a par with media personalities nowadays.

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Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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