who is chief wiggum based on?

Robinson was the inspiration for Chief Wiggum's voice, but it's even clearly mentioned in an episode of the show that the actor is the influence for the character. In “Treehouse of Horror XIX,” Wiggum argues with the ghost of Robinson about who stole whose identity.

Chief Clancy Wiggum is the head of the Springfield Police Department. He is an extreme stereotype of a lazy police officer. Chief Wiggum is obese, ignorant and lazy, with a fondness for donuts and guns. While he pretentiously feigns authority, he has little regard for individual rights or even public safety. He is uninformed and continuously flaunts his power, albeit with good intentions most of the time. He is part Irish. He is a major character in The Simpsons and has a supporting role in The Simpsons Movie.

He, along with most of Springfield's government and its police force, is also corrupt, having asked for or taken bribes several times. When Bart bribed him with stolen wedding presents, he told him to read his badge and, at the bottom of the badge, was the caption "Cash Bribes Only". He has a strained friendship with Mayor Quimby. This strained relationship may help to explain why Wiggum has retained his job, despite his inability to do his duties.

He is often assisted by his more intelligent "top cops", Eddie and Lou. He is completely ignorant of Springfield's laws and even makes up his own laws on the fly. According to The Bart Book, Clancy is also in the SPD Bomb Squad, which is in fact just him in a hockey mask.

Clancy Wiggum was born on April 28, 1947 and was possibly born in Ireland. He seemed to have spent some part of his early childhood in Maryland, as he mentioned that he used to sell ribbons there with his father, Iggy Wiggum. Iggy was a WWII veteran who died in a parade float accident in 1979, along with Arnie Gumble, Sheldon Skinner, Etch Westgrin, and Griff McDonald, who were all members of Abe Simpson's Flying Hellfish. He did, however, grow up in Springfield and was among the same class and age group as Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Barney Gumble, and possibly Marge Simpson.

At an early age, Wiggum played cops and robbers with Homer and other kids his age, showing a clear ambition to become a police officer.

At the age of 16, he was a hall monitor at high school, and possibly had a part-time security guard job at Springfield State University. Wiggum was present at the University's germ research labs (of which Prof. C. Montgomery Burns was chairman at the time) when Mona Simpson and the hippie activist group she was part of sabotaged the germ experiments. Wiggum, who had suffered from asthma prior to that, was cured by antibiotics that the group released to kill the germs, and helped Mona Simpson escape the police when she was on the run twenty-five years later to return the favor. Near the beginning of the school year, Wiggum, then a drug officer, was investigating Lenny, Carl, and Homer for taking marijuana, and had his sniffer dog, Sergeant Scraps, and was successful in the case.

In 1985, Chief Wiggum was involved in the barbershop quartet called the "Be Sharps". Wiggum was a member with Homer Simpson, Seymour Skinner, and Apu. However, a talent scout, who showed interest in the Be Sharps, didn't like Wiggum as a performer, saying the idea of a cop in the group was "too Village People." Consequently, he was thrown out of the group. When auditions were held to find a replacement for Wiggum, he attempted to be re-selected for the quartet, wearing a disguise similar to Dr. Doolittle, but was found out and rejected from the audition.

Early attempts to get into the Police Force when he was a teenager were unsuccessful on account of his asthma, so when it had been cured he could then pursue his ambition to become a professional police officer. Having entered the Police Academy by age 24, Wiggum managed to work around his many shortcomings and finally become a full fledged officer. By the age of 34, he had managed to work his way up to the position of Police Chief of Springfield, which most likely was made possible when he "made a deal with the devil to be chief". He eventually was promoted to Commissioner after Bart's hoax kidnapping case. It is implied that Wiggum managed to overcome his shortcomings with coaxing methods such as great skills with back massages and charm to get the position of Chief, but he actually received the position when the frustrated former Chief resolved to give it to the next person he met, which was Wiggum. Another explanation is when Mayor Quimby said that he made Wiggum the police chief so that the law would not be enforced to the letter, and he could get away with all his corrupt activities. This may also explain why Chief Wiggum has somewhat of a feud with Mayor Quimby, such as getting into a serious argument with him in regards to Marge's arrest, blackmailing him with incriminating photos, and even trying to arrest Quimby for corruption charges. Regardless, Wiggum had accomplished his childhood dream.

Wiggum is currently aged somewhere between 38-43 years old.

Wiggum weighs 360 pounds (163.3 kg) and is 5'9" (175 ¼ cm) tall.

Other than his job as Police Chief, he is also the coach for the Mighty Pigs Hockey team. He is also a participant in the Annual Chili Cook-Off, where it is implied that he holds a grudge against Homer Simpson due to his scathing reviews of various chili. One year, he briefly got his revenge on Homer by including in his chili Guatemalan Insanity Peppers, which he added to his chili specifically in anticipation of Homer tasting his. However, Homer eventually got his revenge by tasting multiple tastes of chili while having coated his mouth with wax after drinking hot wax from a candle, leaving Wiggum stunned. However, Wiggum ultimately got the last laugh as the Insanity Peppers ended up causing Homer to undergo a psychotic break.

Wiggum is also worryingly dismissive of basic firearm safety and uses his gun for various tasks that continuously put his life in danger. Examples include selling pieces of it to feed his family after being fired from his position as chief of police, using it as a nutcracker, and eating donuts off its barrel. When it goes off and nearly shoots him through the head (instead going through the peak of his cap), he merely remarks on what a close call it was and resumes eating.

It was shown that Wiggum dies at the age of 62 after choking on a sub sandwich he stole from Homer Simpson, who had just been killed by his police department.

Wiggum capitalizes the negative aspects of the police force and service, especially within Springfield and perhaps the judicial system in general. His badge actually states in fine print, "cash bribes only". In addition to the stereotype Wiggum embodies, he often eats donuts, much like Homer Simpson.

Multiple times, Wiggum displays an ignorance for the law, usually making up his own arbitrary reasons for arresting people rather than an actual crime, although sometimes Wiggum has had a clear view of the law, at ties butting heads with Mayor Quimby, who is willing to break legal laws just to retain his position as mayor of Springfield. In some cases, he tries to avoid stopping crimes, such as claiming the caller has the wrong number (912 rather than 911, even though in Homer the Great the “real” number is said to be 912), or is in disbelief when someone is reporting a crime. He also at times mixes up police acronyms, which at times had near disastrous consequences. A notable example of this was his mixing up the terms DOA (Dead on Arrival) and DWI (Driving While Impaired/Driving While Intoxicated), initially claiming to Marge Simpson that her husband Homer had been the former and then corrected himself by stating he was actually the latter when she stated he was dead in horror, only to encounter Mrs. Phillips, whom he earlier called in to pick up her husband due to him supposedly being arrested on a DWI charge, only for him to quickly duck out under the excuse of going to lunch while directing her to another officer due to her husband actually being DOA.

Despite this, there have been instances where Wiggum proves to be a good cop at times, showing a surprising level of competence when push turns to shove; and it is perhaps this quality which demonstrates why he was appointed as 'chief' in the first place. For example, he successfully located the missing Maggie Simpson and helped Homer chase Marge and Ruth Connors when they became convicts. He showed an unprecedentedly high level of dedication to his police work by conducting an extremely thorough investigation when trying to find the shooter who gunned down Mr. Burns. His dedication to his police work can also be shown when he is encouraged by others, such as in 'Pranksta Rap' and in 'The Fat Blue Line'.

It is also shown on various occasions throughout the series that he can be quite loving, such as in S17 E07 "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas" where he hugs Lou, as well as Homer and Marge in S21 E14 "Postcards From the Wedge" . He is also sensitive, fun-loving, and has a cheeky or mischievous sense of humor, and shows genuine care for his son, Ralph. In "Chief of Hearts", he is seen to have a close friendship with Homer, due to their similarities.

Aside from his late father, Clancy is the husband of Sarah Wiggum (whom he met when arresting her for possession of drugs that he planted on her to "make her notice him") and the father of Ralph Wiggum, a second grader at Springfield Elementary. He has an unseen cousin named Mark who went to Pennsylvania State University; Wiggum describes him as a "fat kid who played a lot of Tetris." Wiggum also has an unnamed brother who, after attending military school, presumably went crazy and now "owns and operates a famous cave", and he claims to have a sister, who is completely hairless like a Sphinx cat. Besides Iggy Wiggum, his deceased relatives include brother-in-law Fred Kanneke and an uncle who, according to Wiggum, died of "crotch dot."

In "The Devil and Homer Simpson", Chief Wiggum has a brief appearance in the ending where he and the other members of the Springfield Police Department are waiting outside the Simpsons' house, obviously in anticipation of tearing chunks of Homer's doughnut-ified head for their morning coffee (a consequence of his narrowly escaping the Devil's snares).

Wiggum also briefly appears in "Treehouse of Horror VI" as part of the PTA meeting on "Smarch", where he bore witness to Groundskeeper Willie's grisly demise. When Willie ominously threatened them for leaving him to die, Wiggum jokingly asked if he was going to use "skeleton power" against their children in reference to Willie's now-skeletal-like, charred corpse.

In "Treehouse of Horror XV", he acted as the yard inspector in London trying to solve the case of the Muttonchop Murderer that was killing several prostitutes. He eventually arrests Homer for the deed, although he was ultimately exposed by Bart and Lisa as being the true Muttonchop Murderer, and attempts to make his escape via hot air balloon, although his escape was foiled by Kang and Kodos. It is later revealed to be a dream by his son that was caused by his ingesting of opium which he revealed to Wiggum, who revealed that it's still a dream.

In "Treehouse of Horror XXIII", he was called in to investigate the Simpson House after the family discovered unusual activity inside it because of an unusual flame. He identified it as hellfire, and stated that someone sold their soul to the Devil and that he was expecting his due. However, upon the ring of a cuckoo clock, he ended up turned into a skeleton (presumably by the Devil) and collapsed to dust, although not before warning the family that the Devil feeds on "more than just fear."

It is shown in Professor Frink's future machine that Wiggum will, along with Lou and Eddie, become a Robo-Cop-like machine-officer with a rotisserie in his stomach.

In "Flanders' Ladder", Wiggum dies at age 62 when he chokes on Homer's sub.

Wiggum appears several times in The Simpsons: Hit and Run video game. The first time is during Level 2, where he attempts to arrest Bart for buying illegal fireworks, intending to place him under five life sentences of community service, although he later seems to forget this as he tells Bart that Herman's Military Antiques was robbed of a radio recently, and suggests that the skid marks from tires would probably lead to the culprit. It is implied in the former mission that he uses his son Ralph in sting operations, at least in regards to the sale of illegal fireworks. He later appears in Level 3 when he is trying to bust Snake Jailbird under the Three Strikes Law, but hasn't gotten any evidence yet due to his being a "very, very bad cop" (in his own words). Lisa manages to help him collect evidence to put Snake away in exchange for information in regards to her brother's whereabouts. However, he makes a bigger role in Level 4, where he first asks Marge to collect some donuts which are falling out of a Lard Lad Donuts truck due to suffering a severe case of sugar withdrawal in exchange for giving her information about crop circles, and secondly when he races Marge to 742 Evergreen Terrace after she destroyed several trucks of Buzz Cola (he was particularly upset with Marge for this act, as according to him, Buzz Cola was the only thing that gave him the courage to take his shirt off in the police station locker room).

Wiggum appears at the end of Bartman Begins to take Principal Skinner away for having the three teenagers rob the museum. He also appears as one of the contestants in the Duff Ultimate Eating Challenge in Around the World in 80 Bites. He appears as one of the enemies in Mob Rules, where he tries controlling the mob, mainly by blockading key parts of the town but, in the Xbox and PS3 versions, helping try and protect the statue in the town square. He can also be heard speaking through his megaphone throughout the level and he can always be found in the police station during free roam.

Chief Wiggum has his own spin-off show in "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" called "Chief Wiggum P.I." He is fired from the Springfield force for corruption and moves to New Orleans to start working as a private investigator, with Skinner as his partner. Wiggum and Ralph live in a boat house, and Ralph is kidnapped by a villain called Big Daddy. He later finds his son, and lets Big Daddy escape.

Chief Wiggum also appears in the video game Lego Dimensions. He is seen during the Chaos when Lord Business's Micro Managers attack Springfield over in front of the Town hall. Chief Wiggum appears in The Simpsons level pack, "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer" his role similar to that of the episode it's based on.

Wiggum is voiced by Hank Azaria on a gruff tone similar to Moe's, however a bit higher and less rough. Azaria first based his voice for Wiggum on David Brinkley, but soon switched it to an Edward G. Robinson impression.

His surname "Wiggum" is Matt Groening's mother's maiden name. As a pun, Wiggum was designed to look like a pig. Many characters, such as Sideshow Bob, have made fun of his pig-like appearance, calling him names such as "Chief Piggum".

Ralph was not revealed to be the son of Clancy Wiggum until the episode "I Love Lisa", where Ralph seeks advice about his crush on Lisa to Clancy. The writers decided that making Ralph the son of Chief Wiggum would make sense due to similar body types and usual levels of intelligence.

The incredible animated series is currently in its 23rd season! The Simpsons has given us dozens of clever, original characters. Every Simpsons fan has his or her favorite character. Let's take a look at the original, real-life inspirations behind several characters on The Simpsons.

BART The original breakout star of the series, Bart's name is an anagram of the word "brat." Bart's character was based on another very mischievous cartoon character, Dennis the Menace. Creator Matt Groening said he was "always disappointed" that the Dennis the Menace TV show character wasn't as mischievous as the comic strip.

HOMER Without question, Homer is the most popular, beloved character in the history of The Simpsons. Homer's character evolved from an irascible, grouchy father to the lovable, bumbling buffoon who captured the heart of every Simpsons fan. According to Dan Castellaneta (who voices Homer), the original inspiration for Homer's voice was the greatest character actor in movie history: Walter Matthau.

MAYOR QUIMBY Springfield's lascivious, girl-chasing mayor, Mayor Quimby was based on our very charming (and very womanizing) U.S. president John F. Kennedy.

BARNEY GUMBLE

Gumble is Homer's best pal and the town drunk. Barney was based on a character from The Jackie Gleason Show of the 1960s called Crazy Guggenheim (played by actor Frankie Fontaine). Crazu Guggenheim was a rum-soaked drunken character who would chat with Jackie in comedy skits. Jackie played the bartender, the straight man to Crazy.

CHIEF WIGGUM Chief Wiggun is Springfield's inept Chief of Police. The Chief's voice was based on the wonderful, legendary movie star Edward G. Robinson.

TROY MCCLURE

Doug McClure, Troy McClure, and Troy Donahue

The quintessential cheesy, grade B movie actor, Troy McClure is actually a combination of two grade B movie stars: Troy Donahue and Doug McClure. In real life, Doug McClure was not offended by the character, but flattered instead. His daughter often called him "Troy."

PROFESSOR JOHN FRINK

Springfield's resident mad scientist was originally scripted to be an evil scientist. But during his first reading of the character, actor Hank Azaria ad-libbed his impression of Jerry Lewis' character in The Nutty Professor. Everyone loved Hank's interpretation and his Nutty Professor slant on Frink stuck. (Jerry Lewis later guest starred on a Simpsons episode, playing Professor Frink's father.)

RAINIER WOLFCASTLE Springfield's overwrought action hero/movie star was based (as if you didn't know) on actor/politician Arnold Schwarzeneggar.

APU

Apu runs Springfield's local Kwik-E Mart. This very ethnic character was based on Peter Seller's character in one of his best films, The Party.

MOE THE BARTENDER Moe Szyslak, the very cranky local bartender and one of Homer's trusted pals. Moe was based on the voice of acting great Al Pacino. (Moe's favorite film is The Godfather.)

ITCHY AND SCRATCHY

Bart and Lisa love watching the ultra-violent Itchy and Scratchy cartoons on TV. Itchy and Scratchy are based on the popular Oscar-winning MGM cartoon pair Tom and Jerry.

MONTGOMERY BURNS

Olav Thon, Montgomery Burns, and Fred Olsen

Mr. Burns, Homer's boss, is the richest man in Springfield (or the world). Mr. Burns was based on Olav Thon, a Norwegian businessman who reputedly took over a couple of businesses in his town and shut them down. Also, Frederick Olsen, a reclusive millionaire, who owned several companies, including Timex, is mentioned as a Mr. Burns influence. And Matt Groening's high school teacher, Mr. Bailey.

DR. NICK Dr. Nick is Springfield's resident "quack" doctor. Dr. Nick was based on Elvis Presley's pill-dispensing (probably quack) doctor George Nichopoulos, whose medications probably expedited the King's tragic death. Elvis and hos entourage always called Dr. Nichopoulos "Dr. Nick."

OTTO THE BUS DRIVER

Otto Mann was based on Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Slash. Both Otto and Slash have long black curly hair and both collect snakes.

NELSON MUNTZ Nelson is the bully in Bart and Lisa's class. Nelson was based on Judd Nelson's character in the movie The Breakfast Club. He is also reputed to be partly based on Keanu Reeves' character in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Clancy Wiggum is the chief of police of the Springfield Police Department. He is an extreme stereotype: morbidly obese, extremely stupid, ignorant, incompetent, and really lazy, with a fondness for doughnuts and Chintzy-Pop. While he pretentiously feigns authority, he has little regard for individual rights or even public safety. He is disturbingly uninformed and flaunts his power, albeit with good intentions most of the time. He is part Irish.

He, along with the rest of Springfield's government and Springfield police force, is also corrupt, having asked for or taken bribes several times. An example of this is he can skip any crime if he is bribed, like being notably solicited Troy McClure and Homer Simpson for bribes in exchange for "looking the other way" to their criminal activities. When Bart bribed him with stolen wedding presents, he told him to read his badge and, at the bottom of the badge, was the caption "Cash Bribes only". He has a strained friendship with Mayor Quimby, as the two men vie to have control over the city, which once lead to a serious argument in regards of who takes over during an emergency on the Monorail crisis. Wiggum claims to have compromising photographs of the mayor (the mayor once told Wiggum "You don't scare me; that could be anyone's ass!"), which may help to explain why he has retained his job despite his inability to do anything his duties requires of him.

He is often assisted by his more intelligent (but still quite lazy and often rather cocky) "top cops" Eddie and Lou. He is completely ignorant of Springfield's laws and often quotes sayings from the police handbook which cannot actually be found in the book ("like the book says, if you can't beat them, join them"). According to The Bart Book, Clancy is also in the SPD Bomb Sqaud, which is in fact just HIM in a hockey mask.

Clancy Wiggum was possibly born in Ireland. However, he also seemed to spend at least some part of his early childhood in Maryland, as he mentioned he used to sell ribbons there with his father, Iggy Wiggum. Iggy was a war veteran who died in a parade float accident in 1979, along with Arnie Gumble, Sheldon Skinner, Etch Westgrin, and Griff McDonald, all members of Abe Simpson's Flying Hellfish. He did, however, grow up in Springfield and was among the same class and age group as Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Barney Gumble, and possibly Marge Simpson. At an early age, Wiggum played cops and robbers with Homer and other kids his age and he showed a clear ambition to become a police officer. At the age of 16, he was a hall monitor at high school, where he developed a joy for giving orders, and receiving chocolate bribes. He possibly had a part-time security guard job at Springfield State University. Wiggum was present at the University's germ research labs (Prof. C. Montgomery Burns was chairman at the time) when Mona Simpson and the hippie activist group she was part of sabotaged the germ experiments. Wiggum, who had suffered from asthma prior to that, was cured by antibiotics that the group released to kill the germs, and helped Mona Simpson escape the police when she was on the run twenty-five years later.

In 1985 Wiggum was involved in the barbershop quartet called the "Be Sharps". Wiggum was a member with Homer Simpson, Seymour Skinner, and Apu. However, a talent scout showed interest in the Be Sharps but didn't like Wiggum as a performer, so he was thrown out of the group. When auditions were held to find a replacement for Wiggum, he attempted to be reselected for the quartet. He wore a disguise, but was found out.

In 1989, Wiggum jumped between an assassin's bullet and Mayor Quimby when he was on duty confiscating illegal wieners from an unlicensed hot dog vendor.

Early attempts to get into the Police Force when he was a teenager were unsuccessful on account of his asthma, so when it had been cured he could then pursue his ambition to become a professional police officer. Having entered the Police Academy by age 24, Wiggum managed to work around his many shortcomings and finally become a full fledged officer and by 32, he had managed to work his way up to the position of Police Chief of Springfield. It is implied that Wiggum managed to overcome his shortcomings with coaxing methods such as great skills with back massages and charm to get the position of Chief. But he actually received the job when the frustrated former Chief resolved to give it to the next person he met, which was Wiggum. Another explanation is when mayor Quimby said that he made Wiggum the police chief so that the law would not be enforced to the letter (Which may also explain why Chief Wiggum has somewhat of a feud with Mayor Quimby, such as getting into a serious argument about Mayor Quimby in regards to Marge's arrest, blackmailing Mayor Quimby with incriminating photos, and even trying to arrest Mayor Quimby for corruption charges"). Regardless, Wiggum had accomplished his childhood ambition.

Chief Wiggum was often portrayed as a stupid, dimwitted oaf, with a lazy attitude and a love of eating. However Wiggum does have redeeming qualities as well. Despite his dubious escapades, he appears to have quite a loving relationship with his family, especially his son, whom Wiggum often supports and shows great patience towards, although he can be unfortunately somewhat clueless to Ralph's needs at times. It is once implied that Clancy does use the money he earns as well as "acquires" for his family as much as himself. Wiggum doesn't appear to be a particularly judgemental person either, and generally gets along with others. He does on occasion even help various other people, such as helping Homer find Marge escaping with Ruth Powers from the law, helping Mona Simpson, Homer's mother, escape from Mr. Burns as well as helping backing Lisa up in a school protest on one occasion and arriving just in time during a crucial moment such as the various times Sideshow Bob has attempted to kill Bart Simpson. Perhaps the best example of this is when it is implied that he leads the FBI astray in their search for Mona Simpson, allowing her to escape in gratitude for curing his asthma. Although Wiggum can often antagonize others as well, it's heavily implied that it's not out of malice but merely because he's doing his job or because he's ignorant of the situation. It is often implied as well that Wiggum genuinely wants to do good with his job, but a mix of complacency, various difficulties with being a cop, and his own limitations have made him weary of his duties. As well as the above, some interesting quirks of the character include rather unusual ingenuity in his job such as: using police hang gliders, riding an Ostrich, speaking hippie tongue, and using loud music to flush Seymour Skinner and Edna Krabappel out of Springfield Elementary to which they locked down to name a few. He also has a tendency to rant about things during situations, a bit of a kinky side and a fondness for acting and the performing arts. Wiggum often orchestrates or appreciates plays and other shows in prison with the inmates and played a major role in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Some may find this an interesting parallel to his son, who is hinted to potentially have a very high degree of hidden performing talent. At one point, Chief Wiggum explains to a confused Lou about his saying "switchfaces of the east" by stating that he doesn't like censoring himself as it stifles creativity, implying that he has some desire to be creative.

Wiggum's incompetence is showcased in a TV show called Cops in Springfield, in which he investigates a cattle rustler and uses a battering ram to knock down the suspect's door, only to find he has the wrong house. The occupant, Reverend Lovejoy, is very angry, especially since the cattle are clearly visible in the neighbor's yard. Snake, the suspect that Wiggum is after, is able to make a clean getaway. Wiggum describes Snake's vehicle as "a red... car of some sort" and "heading in the direction of that place that sells chilli" and the suspect as "hatless! Repeat, hatless!". He has been known to use Agatha Christie novels as crime-solving reference guide. Wiggum once misuses police terminology, phoning Marge to inform her Homer had been found "DOA", then Marge answers as "Homer's DEAD?, then Wiggum says "Ops, heh heh, I meant DWI- I always get those two mixed up!" After hanging up the phone he is approached by a woman whom he had told that her husband was DWI. He then hastily suggested that she talked to another officer and then told her he was going out to lunch (implying that her husband was actually DOA, and he made a similar mix-up). When chasing a car on a highway, he was asked to describe his location, and replied "I'm on a road, looks to be asphalt--aw jeez, trees, shrubs--uh, I'm directly under the earth's Sun... now." Marge and Ruth elude Wiggum during the same car chase at night by turning off the lights on their car, leading Wiggum to exclaim, "It's a ghost car!"

Wiggum also often fails to comply with his police duties in a real emergency. He once refused to believe calls from people saying that an elephant (Bart's pet elephant Stampy) destroyed their property. After two calls, he thought a call reporting a "liquor store robbery in progress, officer down" was also a fake call. He mocks people who come in to report crimes to him by telling them he will "write on his invisible typewriter". This includes a man with a lighter saying "I just torched a building down town and I'm afraid I'll do it again". On several instances, he has switched off his police radio in the middle of an important call because he did not want to be bothered. Such instances included a "riot in progress" He also leaves the station completely unmanned during night hours, save for an answering machine, once causing 75 emergencies to go unanswered (and were quickly erased). He has also expressed annoyance at the citizens he's supposed to be protecting ("Can't you people solve these problems yourselves? I mean we can't be 'policing' the whole city"). He has also refused to come to the aid of citizens, claiming that they were just too busy to help, when all he was doing was playing checkers with one of the police dogs. In order to get off the phone during a state lottery drawing, Wiggum informed the caller that she had the wrong number and that "this is... 912".

He once rejected Marge's claim that it was illegal to mail threatening letters, until the police handbook proved her right. At that moment, he also learned from the handbook that it was illegal to "put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling", and immediately shouted to the rest of his officers to stop doing exactly that.

Despite his questionable competency at being an officer, Wiggum seems to be very attached to both the police force and his fellow officers. On the few occasions where Wiggum loses his commission, he breaks down shockingly fast, even degrading to the level of a common mugger, although he isn't particularly good at this either as he had to sell the trigger and handle of his gun to feed his family. This pathetic sight prompts Homer to help him get his job back. Once in a while Wiggum will have an argument with his fellow officers, which often end in dramatic, tearful moments of reconciliation. On one occasion, Lou had thought about leaving the force to pursue a career in home security, which leaves Wiggum nearly a tearful mess.

Despite all this, there are occasional hints that Chief Wiggum has the potential to actually be a very good policeman if only he'd be less lazy and complacent. When investigating Mr. Burns' attempted murder, Wiggum displays an astonishingly skilled eye for ballistics and fingerprinting, enough to make positive identifications without any specialized equipment. In fact, Wiggum's entire investigation of the shooting is uncharacteristically dogged, showing the police talking to everyone from Seymour Skinner to Moe Szyslak, to Tito Puente, and even to his own son Ralph Wiggum. He also had a bit of a talent for tasting substances for foreign agents, which he notably used with Homer's tainted Groovy Grove juice to identify it as being laced with Peyote after noticing Lou acting odd at work.

He is also shown to have legitimate frustrations when people waste the Police Force's precious time and resources for extremely trivial reasons, such as when Carmen Electra had Marge and Homer Simpson placed in Jail for murder and nearly executed just to give her reality show, Frame Up, more ratings.

Another good example is where Wiggum is charged with finding a supposedly missing Bart Simpson. It is shown in this occasion as well that Wiggum is one of the few people that seems quite aware of his or her own incompetence, much to his dismay and an inevitable gorging on pancake to lessen the blow. In the end, however, much to the shock of almost everyone in Springfield, including his own men, Wiggum finds Bart by using a rather clever tactical method and actually performs his job admirably. He is promoted to Police commissioner, and it seems things may be finally looking up for him. It is discovered eventually, however, that Bart's abduction was merely a hoax, distressing Wiggum greatly as he finally had done some great good but at merely the wrong time. Curiously, however, it doesn't seem that his position of Commissioner is taken away, although he is never seen in this position of power again. Judging from his usual boredom with most cases and situations in his work, it would seem that perhaps when he is actually motivated he shows far greater skill and zeal. It has been shown several times that the level of resources that the Springfield police have is shockingly low. It has been stated by Lou that Wiggum, Lou and Eddie are the only police officers in the city (however, there are more). Wiggum also mentioned to Lisa that the police force only have the resources to enforce the last law passed in Springfield, which even Wiggum admitted is the worst system possible. It's also implied that Chief Wiggum sometimes has to dress in drag when it comes to Stakeout missions.

Beside his late father, Clancy is the husband of Sarah Wiggum, whom he met when he was arresting her for possession of drugs that he planted on her to "make her notice him", and is the father of Ralph Wiggum. He has a cousin called Mark, who went to Pennsylvania State University, he was a "fat kid... played a lot of Tetris". He has a deceased brother-in-law named Fred Kanickee, an uncle who (according to Wiggum) died of "crotch dot", and an unnamed brother who, after attending military school, presumably went crazy and now "owns and operates a famous cave". He also says he has a sister which is completely bald like Sphynx cats.

It is shown in Professor Frink's future machine that Wiggum will, along with Lou and Eddie, become a Robo-Cop like machine-officer with a rotisserie in his stomach.

Wiggum appears several times in The Simpsons Hit and Run video game. The first time was during Level 2, where he attempts to arrest Bart for buying illegal fireworks (he used his son Ralph Wiggum as bait to arrest people buying illegal fireworks as part of a sting operation), intending to place him under five life sentences of community service, but he fails to catch his quarry, although he later seems to forget this as he tells Bart that Herman's Military Antiques was robbed of a radio recently, and suggests, although not completely sure, that the skid marks from tires would probably lead to the culprit. He later appears in Level 3 when he is trying to bust Snake Jailbird under the Three Strikes Law, but hasn't gotten any evidence yet due to his being a "very, very bad cop." in his own words. Lisa manages to help him collect evidence to put Snake away in exchange for information in regards to her brother's whereabouts. However, he makes a bigger role in Level 4, where he first asks Marge to collect some donuts which are falling out of a Lard Lad Donuts truck due to suffering a severe case of sugar withdrawal in exchange for giving her information about cropcircles, and secondly when he races Marge to 742 Evergreen Terrace after she destroyed several trucks of Buzz Cola (he was deeply upset at Marge for doing so due to Buzz Cola being the only thing that allowed him to "gain the courage to take his shirt off in the station locker room").

Wiggum appears at the end of Bartman Begins to take Principal Skinner away for having the three teenagers rob the museum. He also appears as one of the contestants in the Duff Ultimate Eating Challenge in Around the World in 80 Bites.

Chief Wiggum has his own spin-off show in "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase", "Wiggum P.I." He he is fired from the Springfield force for corruption and moves to New Orleans to start working as a private investigator, with Skinner as his partner. Wiggum and Ralph live in a boat house, and Ralph is kidnapped by a villain called Big Daddy. He later finds his son, and Big Daddy escapes.

Wiggum is voiced by Hank Azaria and is based on a stereotypical police chief, shown as lazy, incompetent and to have a fondness for donuts. Hank Azaria first based his voice for Wiggum on David Brinkley but it was too slow and he switched it to an Edward G. Robinson impression.

His surname "Wiggum" is Matt Groening's mother's maiden name. As "a conscious pun", Wiggum was designed to look like a pig, and in the episode "Marge Gamer", his Earthland Realms alter-ego looked much like his real-life self, only with a pig nose, tail, etc. Wiggum was also designed to be dumber and fatter than Homer Simpson.

Of course, a vast number of famous people have to lent their voices to the show over the years (check out our run-through of the musicians who’ve guested on The Simpsons), but did you know some of its best-loved and longest-serving characters are based on real-life Hollywood megastars, political figures and even family members of the show’s core production and writing staff? Here’s a look at some of the most interesting real-life inspirations behind The Simpsons‘ cast of thousands.

Rich Hall / Moe Szyslak (Picture: Getty / Alamy / Fox)

US alternative comic Rich Hall found fame on the comedy circuit in the 1980s for his bad tempered – but hilarious – rants and bleak outlook on life. The comedian has long claimed that Simpsons creator Matt Groening once revealed to him that he was the basis of grumpy, downtrodden bartender Moe, and in November 2018 Hall dressed up as Moe for a photoshoot. “It’s an honour,” Hall said of being the inspiration for Moe. “Once you get over the shock of seeing yourself as a horrible, yellow caricature.”

Groening derived the names for America’s most famous family from his own family, with dad Homer, mum Margaret and sisters Lisa, Maggie and Patty all getting a nod. The creator of the show has been at pains to point out, though, that cartoon Homer was nothing like his actual father. “Homer originated with my goal to both amuse my real father, Homer, and just annoy him a little bit,” Groening told EW in 2010. “My father was an athletic, creative, intelligent filmmaker and writer, and the only thing he had in common with Homer was a love of donuts. And he never strangled me, but he got so mad sometimes, it felt like that could be the next move.”

Dan Castellaneta, who plays Homer on the show, revealed in the early 1990s that he developed the character’s voice from his impersonation of the late actor Walter Matthau.

Mayor Quimby / Ted Kennedy (Picture: Alamy/Fox and Getty)

Springfield’s philandering, sketchy mayor bears resemblance to a few members of the Kennedy dynasty, but it’s the late Massachusetts Senator Ted who’s most often cited as the one. Kennedy embraced his cartoon doppelgänger in 2000 when a contest was held in the US to determine which town of Springfield should serve as the real-life equivalent of the Simpsons’ hometown, as he invited “ol’ Diamond Joe Quimby” to come and sample some “chow-dah” in Springfield, Massachusetts.

You probably didn’t need telling about this one. Rainier Wolfcastle’s McBain could’ve easily slotted into the leading role in any of Arnie’s many action movies in the ’80s and ’90s. We’re still holding out hope that McBain: Let’s Get Silly will actually be released in full one day, too.

As explained in the OPB video above, the character of Krusty was inspired by real-life Portland clown James Allen, AKA Rusty Nails. Groening, like many kids of his age at the time, grew up watching Rusty on TV and later described him as “a very sweet clown” with an “incredibly disturbing , because as a child you know you’re supposed to avoid rusty nails”.

Troy McClure and his namesakes (Picture: Getty / Fox)

A portmanteau of the names of two prominent 1960s actors helped create the much-loved and much-missed Troy McClure, star of Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!, Get Confident, Stupid! and Meat And You: Partners in Freedom (“Don’t kid yourself, Jimmy: if a cow ever got the chance, he’d eat you and everyone you care about”).

Simpsons producer and writer Mike Reiss once recalled meeting Doug McClure’s daughter, who revealed that her late father was a huge fan of his Simpsons namesake before his passing in 1995.

Simpsons writers Wallace Wolodarsky and Jay Kogen chose the surname Krabappel for the Springfield Elementary educator for two reasons: 1) as a play on the name of the “crab apple” fruit, and 2) as a nod Marlowe’s teacher character Miss Crabtree in the Our Gang shorts, which later became known as The Little Rascals.

John D. Rockefeller / Mr. Burns / Barry Diller (Picture: Getty and Alamy/Fox)

The real-inspirations for Charles Montgomery Burns, it seems, are numerous. It was long thought that Norwegian oil magnate Fred Olsen had inspired the creation of the Springfield Power Plant tycoon, but Groening finally denied the link in 2015.

In a 2000 interview with TV Guide in the US, Groening stated that Burns’ personality had been concocted by combining actual oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller with the It’s a Wonderful Life character Henry Potter. That same TV Guide story also cited supervising director David Silverman’s claim that the look of Mr. Burns was based on Barry Diller, who headed up the show’s network Fox at the time of The Simpsons‘ TV debut in 1989.

And the Burns name? Charles is taken from Citizen Kane‘s Charles Foster Kane, while Montgomery came from a childhood friend of Groening’s who lived across the street from a Montgomery Ward shop. Next to the store was a historic log cabin which burned down, and the location of the two buildings later combined in Groening’s head to create Montgomery Burns.

Actor and comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños inspired the Spanish-speaking Bumblebee Man in The Simpsons via his own TV character, El Chapulín Colorado. Bolaños, who died in 2014, was hugely popular in his native Mexico for his wacky performances in shows such as the one you can see above.

Chief Wiggum / Edward G. Robinson (Picture: Alamy/Fox and Getty)

The Simpsons has a bigger ensemble cast of characters than any other show on television (except maybe Game of Thrones, which is insanely well-populated). But did you know that many of the most iconic Springfield residents were based on real people?

Not only were creator Matt Groening's parents named Homer and Marge (her maiden name was Wiggum), and his sisters named Lisa and Maggie, but there are plenty of other characters that had their roots in the real world. (By the way, his other sister, Patty, gave her name to Marge's sister Patty in the show, while his brother Mark… didn't.)

1. Moe - based on comic Rich Hall

Ever see stand-up comic Rich Hall on QI and think to yourself, 'Who does he remind me of?' The answer is probably Moe from The Simpsons.

Rich himself said back in 2007: "I suspected that Moe was based on me because I used to write with George Meyer back when he was one of the original writers on the show. Matt Groening was a fan of my stuff. Other people said, 'You look and sound just like Moe.' Then Matt confirmed it."

2. Mr Burns - based on two business tycoons

Groening has confirmed that the richest man in Springfield was based principally on the one-time world's richest man, John D Rockefeller. Animator David Silverman, meanwhile, claims he based Burns's look on a combination of a praying mantis and the former head of Fox broadcasting, Barry Diller.

3. Barney - based on a 1950s comedy character

Homer's best drinking and burping pal was inspired by a character from The Jackie Gleason Show named Crazy Guggenheim (played by Frankie Fontaine). CG was a constantly drunken character who appeared opposite Jackie's straight man bartender.

4. Frank Grimes - based on Michael Douglas in Falling Down

Can't unsee it now, can you? And we bet even D-Fens had a better day than when Grimey met Homer.

5. Apu - based on Peter Sellers in brownface

While it's still questionable having Caucasian Hank Azaria voice Indian character Apu (an accusation Azaria isn't blind to) he has said he actually based his voice on another white actor pretending to be Indian: Peter Sellers 's character Hrundi V Bakshi in 1968 movie The Party.

6. Troy McClure - based on two B movie icons

The ultimate Simpsons B-movie star, Troy McClure, is a combination of real life B-movie actors: Doug McClure and Troy Donahue. Thankfully, Doug wasn't offended - his daughter told Simpsons producer Mike Reiss that her father was a big fan before his death in 1995, and that she and her sister would often call him Troy as a joke.

7. Homer - based on Walter Matthau's voice

Homer was originally more of a grouchy dad than the lovable buffoon we all know today, and according to voice actor Dan Castellaneta, his main inspiration for the voice was influential character actor Walter Matthau. Hear him explain how this came about right here.

8. Mayor Quimby - based on JFK

Springfield's womanising Mayor was based on American President John F Kennedy. Mainly his voice. Not the womanising. At all.

9. Chief Wiggum - based on American actor Edward G Robinson

Hank Azaria has said that the inept cop is essentially an impression of Hollywood great Robinson. This was even joked about on the show itself, especially in 2008's 'Treehouse of Horror XIX' when Wiggum and Robinson's ghost accuse each other of being rip-offs.

10. Dr Nick - based on Elvis's controversial doctor

The dodgy quack doctor was heavily based on Elvis Presley's longtime pill-dispensing doctor George Nichopoulos, who became a controversial figure due to the King's ultimately fatal use of prescription drugs. Also known as Dr Nick, the real-life doctor died aged 88 in February this year.

11. Rainier Wolfcastle - based on Arnie

Obviously.

12. Krusty the Clown - based on a real life clown

Matt Groening based Springfield's biggest star on a clown named Rusty Nail (aka James Allen), a frankly scary clown he used to watch as a child. Meanwhile, Krusty's backstory was based on that of legendary US comic Jackie Mason, whose father was an Orthodox rabbi.

13. Bumblebee Man - based on a real-life Mexican TV star

You may think Bumblebee Man (aka the Channel Ocho Bee) a tad absurd, but he's actually based on a real Mexican TV superhero known as El Chapulin Colorado, aka 'The Red Grasshopper'. The show was huge in Mexico and ran for eight seasons until 1981. Star Roberto Gómez Bolaños died aged 85 in 2014. Ay, que lastima.