Character
Groundskeeper Willie's first appearance was in the season two episode "Principal Charming". Originally, the character was written just as an angry janitor; his Scottish accent was added during a recording session. Dan Castellaneta was assigned to do the voice. Castellaneta did not know what voice to use and Sam Simon, who was directing at the time, told Castellaneta to use an accent. He first tried a Spaniard voice, which Simon felt was too clichéd. He then tried a "big dumb Swede," which was also rejected. For his third attempt, he used the voice of an angry Scotsman, which was considered to be appropriate and was used in the episode. Originally thought by the directors to be a one-shot appearance, Willie has since become a common recurring character. Matt Groening later revealed that the character was based partially on Angus Crock, a kilt-wearing chef from the sketch comedy show Second City Television, who was portrayed by Dave Thomas and Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films.
A recurring joke, which was first shown in "Radio Bart," is that Groundskeeper Willie appears to have a pot belly, but whenever he takes off his shirt, he is quite muscular. One of Groundskeeper Willie's trademarks is a gruffly-spoken insulting retort, which take the writers a long time to come up with, although they do not consider them that funny.
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Famous quotes containing the word character:
“To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. Observe the ass, for instance: his character is about perfect, he is the choicest spirit among all the humbler animals, yet see what ridicule has brought him to. Instead of feeling complimented when we are called an ass, we are left in doubt.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“An actor rides in a bus or railroad train; he sees a movement and applies it to a new role. A woman in agony of spirit might turn her head just so; a man in deep humiliation probably would wring his hands in such a way. From straws like these, drawn from completely different sources, the fabric of a character may be built. The whole garment in which the actor hides himself is made of small externals of observation fitted to his conception of a role.”
—Eleanor Robson Belmont (1878–1979)