Dan Castellaneta

Daniel Louis Castellaneta (born September 10, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor best known for providing the voice of Homer Simpson and other characters on the animated series The Simpsons. Castellaneta has guest-starred as himself on The Simpsons twice and has also written some episodes. He was also the voice of the Genie in Disney's The Return of Jafar, the animated series Aladdin, House of Mouse, and the Kingdom Hearts video game series. He was a cast member on The Tracey Ullman Show where The Simpsons first appeared on TV.

Biography

A native of Chicago, he was educated at the Oak Park and River Forest High School and Northern Illinois University. After graduation, Castellaneta went on to work at Chicago's Second City, which he later recalled on Inside the Actors Studio as "a place that, if you're not funny going in, will train you on how to be funny when going out."

He is married to writer Deb Lacusta. He lives in Los Angeles where he occasionally performs alongside a branch of The Second City.

Voices and roles

On The Simpsons, Castellaneta provides the voices for Homer Simpson (he has to tilt his chin into his neck to do Homer's voice correctly ^*), Grampa Abraham Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Joe Quimby, Hans Moleman, Sideshow Mel, Itchy, Kodos, Arnie Pie, Scott Christian and other characters. Along with Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer, he is a dominant voice on the series.

He also played Grandpa on the Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!, Doctor Emmett L. Brown in the animated series The Animated Series, the Things in Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat and Robot Devil in Futurama. In 1999 he played as the comedic Nordom the anti-Modron in the computer game Torment.

Castellaneta voices the leading character in the animated series Earthworm Jim and narrated the movie Super Mario Bros. In 2005, he appeared on Arrested Development as a deadpan incompetent doctor who misdiagnosed Jason Bateman's character (and left tools inside him after surgery, causing him to exclaim "D'oh!") and in the movie The War of the Roses he seeks a divorce at the beginning of the movie. He also appeared in episodes of Frasier, Friends, Married with Children, Yes, Dear, Reba, Everybody Loves Raymond, That '70s Show,and Stargate SG-1.

On February 22, 2000, his first music CD Two Lips was published. It was followed on April 23, 2002 by his first comedy CD, I Am Not Homer, in which he and his wife perform several comedy skits. (For example, on the first track, "AM Therapy", his wife plays a radio-show psychotherapist and he plays several characters who call in for help.) Both CDs were published by Oglio Records.

Castellaneta portrayed Aaron Spelling in the 2004 NBC film; The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels which followed the true story of how Spelling created the show.

Castellaneta guest starred as Joe Spencer in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Citizen Joe". This was a humorous indirect connection between The Simpsons and Stargate, as Castellaneta voices Homer and The Simpsons is Jack O'Neill's (Stargate's main character) favorite TV show and Homer is deep in Jack's mind (in "Beneath the Surface" O'Neill's memory is erased but he still remembers a bald man and it turns out to be Homer, not Jack's commanding officer). The connection is deepened further by the fact that Castellaneta, along with his wife, wrote the Simpsons episode Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, which guest-starred Richard Dean Anderson, the actor who plays O'Neill on SG-1.

Dan can be seen in the upcoming Will Smith drama Pursuit of Happyness.

Filmography

Films

The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour (2004)
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
The Secret Files (2003)
Return to Never Land (2002)
King of Dreams (2000)
Space Jam (1996)
Toonstruck (1996)
Love Affair (1994)
The Client (1994)
The Return of Jafar (1994)
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)
The War of the Roses (1989)
K-9 (1989)
The Thing that Ate Everybody (1989)
Say Anything... (1989)
Nothing in Common (1986)

Television

Arrested Development (2005) - Doctor Stein
The Batman (2004)
The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels (2004)
Disney's House of Mouse (2001)
School's Out (2001)
Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999)
Cow and Chicken (1997)
Hey Arnold! (1996-2004) - Grandpa
Friends (1996) - The Zoo Keeper in "The One After the Superbowl, Part One"
Aladdin (1994-1995) - Genie
Earthworm Jim (1994) - Jim
Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) - Lazar the Wizard in Super Sonic
The Animated Series (1991-1993) - Doctor Emmett L. Brown
Darkwing Duck (1991)
Taz-Mania (1991)
Fievel's American Tails (1991) - Chula the Tarantula
Tale Spin (1990) TV Series
The Simpsons (1989-present)
Stargate SG-1 (2004) Sci-fi series ("Stargate SG-1 - Citizen Joe")
Yes, Dear Evan
Futurama (various episodes between 1999 and 2003) Robot Devil ('Belzebot')

Other

Kingdom Hearts II (2006) (Video game) - Genie
Chain of Memories (2004) (Video game) - Genie
I am Not Homer (2003) (CD comedy)
Kingdom Hearts (2002) (Video game) - Genie
Two Lips (2000) (CD Beatles satire/homage)
Torment (1999) - Nordom
ClayFighter 63 1/3 (1997) (Video game) - Earthworm Jim, Boogerman
Toonstruck (1996) - Flux Wildly
Castallenta played Harvey Pekar in the stage adaptation of Pekar's autobiographical comic book series American Splendor.

External links