Dan Castellaneta

Overview

Born
October 29, 1957 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Birth name
Daniel Louis Castellaneta
Nickname
- Doofus
Height
5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

Biography

Family

Spouse
Parents

Trademarks

The voice of Homer Simpson

Trivia

In 2001, his trademark phrase "d'oh" from "The Simpsons" was considered valid, and added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
According to the producers of The Simpsons (1989), he is so in character when playing "Homer Simpson", that when he makes a mistake during a line reading, it is the type of mistake Homer would make. For example, in the episode "Homer Goes To College", Homer chants "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T, I mean S-M-A-R-T!" His saying S-M-R-T was not scripted, improvised or even intended to be a joke, it was just a mistake.
According to The Simpsons (1989)' creator, Matt Groening, Dan is the one person he will not sit in with when Dan records voices, because Matt says that he finds Dan so funny when he records voices that he cannot stop himself from laughing, effectively ruining several takes.
Up until 1998, was paid $30,000 per Simpsons episode. He and the five other main Simpsons voice actors were then involved in a pay dispute in which Fox threatened to replace them with new actors and went as far as preparing for casting of new voices. However, the issue was soon resolved and from 1998 to 2004, they were given $125,000 per episode. In 2004, the voice actors intentionally skipped several table reads, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode. The strike was resolved a month later and Castellaneta's salary was increased to $250,000 per episode. Another contract renegotiation in 2008 saw his salary rise to $400,000 per episode. He was also made a consulting producer.
Good friends with Tracey Ullman. They did a lot of comedy work together, and it was Ullman that got Dan his most famous role as Homer Simpson.

Quotes

To many, Homer may appear lazy and a loser, but he's just much misguided. He's boorish, sure, but well meaning and, I guess, the one thing we have in common is the pursuit of lousy diets.
Don't eat me. I have a wife and kids. Eat them.
The humor is essentially dark for a cartoon and sophisticated. But at the same time, being a cartoon gives the writers more freedom than in a normal sitcom. It always pushes the line that, despite human failings, the Simpsons are really decent people.
After years of doing it, you learn the difference between your ego and your opinion. When you're married you have to cut through that.
Sometimes the only way you can feel good about yourself is by making someone else look bad. And I'm tired of making other people feel good about themselves.