When and why Troy McClure stopped appearing on 'The Simpsons' - Gossipify (2024)

This is Troy McClure. You may remember him from his multiple appearances in The Simpson like a run-down actor who survives by making teleshopping and educational movies, or even the time he married Aunt Selma. The character, one of the most beloved of Springfield, has left an indelible memory in all those viewers who, convinced or not by the drift of the animated sitcom in recent years, have ever considered themselves fans of the Matt Groening series. However, the truth is that McClure has not appeared on the small screen for years. And he has nothing to do with a creative decision on the part of the producers of The Simpson nor with fights for moneybut with a much more gruesome story.

Troy McClure first appeared in The Simpson in February 1991, with the issuance of Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment, the thirteenth episode of the second season. The character was built on the stereotype of the fallen Hollywood actor and, in fact, his name came from the combination of two real B-series performers, Troy Donahue and Doug McClure, who also served as inspiration for some aspects of his character. personality. His physical appearance, on the other hand, was more similar to that of Phil Hartman, the voice actor who voiced all of the character’s main appearances.

His short time in Springfield was enough to make him one of the series’ most beloved characters, but viewers never really got to know much about Troy McClure. He had been a movie star in the early 1970s, but his career had been deflated by rumors of a fish-related sexual paraphilia. Since then, the most common thing was to find him presenting promotional or educational videos, always introduced with his memorable filler: “Hello, I’m Troy McClure. Maybe you remember me from movies like…”. Despite having stumbled many times—and regaining some professional vigor after his marriage to Selma Bouvier, Marge’s sister—his career never stopped being stagnant. He even applied to voice Poochie, the infamous animated dog who would end up voicing Homer Simpson himself. According to a legendary producer of the series, Al Jean, the writers of The Simpson they used to use McClure as a panic button: whenever they felt that an episode needed a little more humor, there he added to the character. So why did he stop showing up? The Simpson?

Why Troy McClure stopped dating The Simpson

Changes in dubbing casts are normal in animated series. On occasion, actors leave productions —especially if they go on as long as they do. The Simpson— motivated by innovative projects or that offer them different experiences. Other times, it is simply an economic issue: voice actors who have been dubbing iconic characters for decades can ask for raises that the networks are not always willing to grant. However, the reason behind Troy McClure’s disappearance from The Simpson it’s much sadder.

In May 1998, Philip Hartman, McClure’s voice actor, was murdered. One night, the actor and his wife, Brynn Omdahl, had a heated argument, at the end of which Hartman went to bed alone. At dawn, around three in the morning the next day, Omdahl entered her room and shot her husband up to three times, killing him. The bullets went through the brow, throat and chest of the voice actor, who was 49 years old. His wife had been taking alcohol, cocaine and a drug called Zoloft. As police removed the couple’s two children from the house, Brynn Omdahl locked herself in the bedroom and shot herself.

After the tragic event, instead of finding another voice actor for the role, the producers of The Simpson they preferred to remove Troy McClure from circulation. The same thing happened with the other character that Hartman regularly voiced, the losing lawyer Lionel Hutz. Thus, the last proper appearance of Troy McClure took place in the episode Bart the mother, from season ten, in which young Simpson adopts a pair of Bolivian tree lizards. The chapter, dedicated to Hartman, was broadcast four months after his death. Since the voice actor’s death, the character has only appeared in the background in a few sequences.