Although he doesn’t play a member of the titular family, Harry Shearer is one of the prominent voice actors in The Simpsons. Matt Groening filled the Simpson family’s town with minor characters, inspired by the sketch comedy series Second City Television. Along with Hank Azaria, Shearer voices the lion’s share of the supporting characters that populate the wider world of Springfield.
While Shearer’s most iconic role will probably always be Derek Smalls from This Is Spinal Tap, who he’s played on stage, on the big screen, and in The Simpsons, there are a ton of Springfieldian icons that he’s also recognized for.
Otto Mann
Springfield Elementary’s drug-addled bus driver Otto has been the source of some great gags over the years. His reckless driving has endangered the kids countless times, but his friendship with Bart is surprisingly wholesome.
Otto has only taken center stage in a couple of episodes– most notably in the aptly titled “The Otto Show”– but he’s best left as a background character.
Rainier Wolfcastle
Springfield’s resident movie star is Rainier Wolfcastle, the thinly veiled parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger who headlines the popular McBain franchise.
From his early performance in a bratwurst commercial as a child in Austria to his starring role in Help! My Son is a Nerd (which isn’t supposed to be a comedy), Wolfcastle has enjoyed a hilarious Hollywood career.
Kent Brockman
Springfield’s most trusted news reporter is Kent Brockman, the Channel 6 anchorman, but he’s not perfect. When he saw an ant close to the camera while Homer was in space and jumped the gun on welcoming “our new insect overlords” to Earth, he proved he was loyal to nobody but himself.
He’s a great journalist, but he’s prone to bouts of rage and unprofessionalism when he doesn’t get the pastry he wants or the crew let him down.
George H.W. Bush
The writers of The Simpsons had a real beef with former President George H.W. Bush, because he named the titular family as an example of an American family with poor values. That personal vendetta morphed into the episode “Two Bad Neighbors,” in which Bush moves across the street from the Simpsons.
Naturally, Bush didn’t voice himself on the show that he thought was inspiring bad family values across America, so Harry Shearer did a spot-on impression instead.
Waylon Smithers
Mr. Burns’ assistant Smithers is as loyal to his boss as he is in love with him. There’s nothing that Smithers wouldn’t do for Mr. Burns and he has very little free time outside his commitment to his job.
After years of double entendre and suggestive hints about Smithers’ sexuality, he finally came out as gay in the season 27 episode, “The Burns Cage.”
Reverend Lovejoy
Every Sunday, the Simpsons go to church and sit through a service delivered by Reverend Lovejoy, a hilarious satire of every boring religious leader preaching the teachings of God.
In his personal life, Lovejoy is a much bigger fan of model trains than the Bible, and he becomes infuriated by incessant phone calls from the significantly more devout Ned Flanders looking for spiritual guidance.
Dr. Hibbert
The Simpson family’s physician, Dr. Hibbert, is mainly known for his distinctive chuckle, but he’s also the source of the show’s most hilarious medical gags. Well, the ones that don’t involve malpractice– those are reserved for Hank Azaria's Dr. Nick Riviera.
Dr. Hibbert’s methods are always hilarious, like the “jiggle test” he performs on Homer’s belly, while his changing hairstyles through the ages are a terrific running gag in flashback episodes.
Principal Skinner
If we ignore that awful episode, “The Principal and the Pauper," that revealed Principal Skinner to be an impostor, he’s one of The Simpsons’ funniest characters. He went through hell in Vietnam and now he’s at the mercy of schoolchildren.
Skinner has some fascinating dynamics with other characters, like his arch nemesis Bart and his on-and-off girlfriend Mrs. Krabappel, while his most interesting (and disturbing) relationship is with his mother, Agnes, who he lives with– although he claims that she, in fact, lives with him.
Ned Flanders
The annoying neighbor is one of the most overused tropes in American sitcoms, seen in everything from Home Improvement to Seinfeld, but Ned Flanders is unique because of his devotion to Christianity and the fact that he includes “diddly” in the middle of as many words as possible.
Homer’s love/hate relationship with Flanders has resulted in many classic episodes, particularly “Homer Loves Flanders,” and it was a lot of fun when Flanders reached his breaking point in “Hurricane Neddy.”
Mr. Burns
Astoundingly, Harry Shearer voices both Mr. Burns and his incredibly loyal assistant Smithers. And he doesn’t need to record their lines separately, either. In various interviews, Shearer has performed a conversation between Burns and Smithers without missing a beat, switching seamlessly between their voices.
Burns is The Simpsons’ satirical portrait of the super-rich. He exploits his workers to expand his vast fortune and wouldn’t consider giving away a penny of it for a second. But he’s somehow lovable, despite being pure evil.