Krusty the Clown
Krusty the Clown
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Krusty the Clown

Sir Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (Yiddish: ‏הערשעל שמױקל פּינחס ירוחם קרוסטאָפֿסקי; Hebrew: הירשל שמויקל פנחס ירוחם קרוסטופסקי), better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the long-time clown host of Bart and Lisa Simpson's favorite TV show, a variety show consisting of various kid-friendly sketches and often highly violent cartoons, most notably The Itchy & Scratchy Show. Despite his cheery onscreen persona, Krusty is actually a cynical, burnt-out, addiction-riddled smoker who is made miserable by show business but continues on anyway. He has become one of the most frequently occurring characters outside the main Simpson family and has been the focus of many episodes, namely some centering around his relationship with his former co-star Sideshow Bob, who later became a major antagonist of the series.

Krusty was created by cartoonist Matt Groening and partially inspired by Rusty Nails, a television clown from Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon. He was designed to look like Homer Simpson (also voiced by Castellaneta) with clown makeup, based on the scrapped original concept of Krusty where Bart worships a television clown who is ironically his own father that he looks down upon; the idea of Homer playing the role of Krusty would eventually be explored in the Season 6 episode, "Homie the Clown". Krusty's voice is based on Bob Bell, who portrayed WGN-TV's Bozo the Clown. Krusty made his television debut on January 15, 1989, in the Tracey Ullman Show short "The Krusty the Clown Show".

Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky was born in the Lower East Side of Springfield and is the son of Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky. Very little is known about Herschel's mother, aside from her name being Rachel and that she died when Krusty was around thirteen years old. Hyman strongly opposed Krusty's wish to become a clown and make people laugh, believing that it would distract Herschel from his religion, wanting the boy to go to yeshiva instead. However, Krusty performed slapstick comedy, obscuring this from his father. However, Herschel was performing at a rabbis' convention when one joking rabbi squirted seltzer on him, washing off his clown makeup. When Rabbi Krustofsky discovered Herschel was the clown onstage, he disowned his son and did not speak to him for 25 years. Krusty later reconciled with his father with the assistance of Bart and Lisa Simpson.

It was later revealed that Krusty did not have a Bar Mitzvah service, because Hyman feared he would violate the sanctity of the rites by "acting up." Krusty had two adult Bar Mitzvah ceremonies: a Hollywood gala which Krusty uses to stage a comeback after his show is cancelled, then a simple ceremony intended to reconnect with his father. After leaving the Lower East Side of Springfield, Krusty started his show biz career as a street mime in Tupelo, Mississippi (Elvis Presley's birthplace). Krusty later discovers that he has a daughter named Sophie. He had met Sophie's mother Erin when Erin was a soldier in the Gulf War and he was entertaining the troops. After spending the night together, he prevented Erin from assassinating Saddam Hussein to protect his Saddam-themed comedy act. After that, Erin started hating clowns, and she kept their daughter a secret from Krusty. Krusty and Sophie bonded over time, and while not a full-time father, he is known to acknowledge her birthdays and occasionally references his daughter publicly.

Krusty has his own show on Channel 6 in Springfield: The Krusty the Clown Show, which is aimed towards a children's audience and has many followers, including Bart Simpson. Krusty has licensed the show to dozens of countries that produce localized versions, including Ireland, China, Jamaica, and Romania with the original version being the least popular. Krusty's show has gone through various phases: a clip from 1961 presents the show as a serious talk show featuring Krusty interviewing AFL–CIO president George Meany on the topic of collective bargaining agreements, while a clip from 1963 shows Krusty interviewing Robert Frost, then dumping a load of snow on the poet. The show later takes a different turn, featuring Ravi Shankar as a guest and having Krusty howl a drugged-out version of The Doors' Break on Through (To the Other Side) in 1973. By the 1980s, the show had devolved into a children's entertainment show, although in one episode Krusty provided updates on the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. During the series, the Krusty the Clown Show is shown to be aimed almost entirely at children. It features many characters, including Sideshow Mel, Mr. Teeny, Tina Ballerina, and Corporal Punishment. Sideshow Bob begins the series as Krusty's main sidekick. However, years of constant abuse lead to Bob framing Krusty for armed robbery, although Bob is eventually foiled by Bart. Bob is replaced by Sideshow Mel, who has remained loyal to Krusty despite being constantly abused by Krusty as well.

Krusty seems to retire from—and then get back into—show business repeatedly throughout his career. One of his retirements is almost made permanent due to just-paroled Sideshow Bob's latest scheme: wiring plastic explosives to a hypnotized Bart and sending Bart onstage. When Krusty makes a tribute to Bob, however, Bob has a change of heart and stops Bart from fulfilling his mission. Bob and Krusty later reconcile, with Krusty exclaiming that Bob's attempts at Krusty's life make his ratings shoot through the roof. This reconciliation remains for the rest of the series, as Bob abandons his attempts for revenge on Krusty in favor of targeting Bart exclusively.

Bart Simpson is one of Krusty's biggest fans. In the episode "Krusty Gets Busted" he declares, "I've based my entire life on Krusty's teachings," and sleeps in a room filled with Krusty merchandise. He exposes Sideshow Bob's attempted framing, helps Krusty return to the air with a comeback special, reigniting his career, and reunites Krusty with his estranged father. For his part, Krusty is usually grateful for Bart's assistance, but almost immediately forgets about it — presumably due to his excessive drinking and drug habits as well as his general conceitedness — and usually does not even remember his name the next time they encounter each other. One summer, Bart enthusiastically attends Kamp Krusty, largely because of the promise that he would get to spend his summer with Krusty. The camp turns out to be a disaster, with Krusty nowhere to be seen, as the camp is simply a franchise location to which Krusty has licensed his image. Bart keeps his hopes up by believing that Krusty will show up, but one day the camp director, Mr. Black, brings in Barney Gumble with clown makeup masquerading as Krusty. This pushes Bart over the edge. He decides that he is sick of Krusty's shoddy merchandise and takes over the camp. Krusty immediately visits the camp in hopes of ending the conflict and manages to appease Bart.

Krusty is a multimillionaire who has amassed his fortune mostly by licensing his name and image to a variety of substandard products and services, from Krusty alarm clocks to Krusty crowd control barriers. Many of these products are potentially dangerous, such as Krusty's brand of cereal, Krusty-O's, which in one episode boasts a jagged metal Krusty-O in each box. One of many lawsuits regarding these products is launched by Bart, who eats a jagged metal Krusty-O by mistake and has to have his appendix removed. The "Krusty Korporation," the company responsible for Krusty's licensing, has also launched a series of disastrous promotions and business ventures, such as sponsoring the 1984 Summer Olympics with a rigged promotion that backfires when the Soviet Union boycotts the games, causing Krusty to lose $44 million. In the TV series and comic books, Krusty is also the mascot and owner of the fast foods restaurant chain Krusty Burger. It has been shut down by the health board many times for everything from overworking employees to stapling together half-eaten burgers to make new ones, as well as using beef infected with mad cow disease to save money.

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