Dan Castellaneta

Born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1958, actor and singer Dan Castellaneta supplied the voice for the cartoon icon Homer Simpson. After completing art studies at Northern Illinois University, he redirected his efforts to acting and performed in stage productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew. In 1983 he became part of Chicago’s famed Second City comedy improv troupe. Four years later he joined the ensemble of the FOX television sketch comedy series The Tracey Ullman Show. Cartoonist Matt Groening introduced the animated dysfunctional family the Simpsons in brief bumper segments between commercials, assigning Castellaneta the role of Homer; once the characters spun off into their own long-running and hugely popular series, an icon emerged. In addition to Homer he voiced other Simpsons regulars including Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble, and Groundskeeper Willy. Outside the program he appeared in numerous films and issued the pop album Two Lips in 2000, which contained psychedelic pop songs performed humorously. Only in 2002 did he release an official comedy CD, the sketch-intensive I Am Not Homer.