Barney Gumble

Barney Gumble
The Simpsons character
Information
Voiced by	Dan Castellaneta
Gender	Male
Occupation	Helicopter Pilot, Snowplow Driver, Astronaut
Relatives	Parents: Arnie Gumble (father) (deceased) Mrs. Gumble (mother) Others: Al Gumble (uncle)
First appearance
The Simpsons	"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"

Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk of Springfield, a huge fan of Lord Palmerston, and Homer Simpson's best friend. His desperation for alcohol is a frequent butt of jokes on the show. Barney sobered up in the episode "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses", which was co-written by Castellaneta, and stayed sober for several seasons. Barney was inspired by the cartoon character Barney Rubble from The Flintstones and by several from other television programs. In 2004, Castellaneta won an Emmy Award for voicing various characters, including Barney.

Barney can be seen in the The Simpsons opening credits since 2009, passed out under a pile of leaves (but still holding his beloved bottle of Duff Beer).

Barney's father, Arnie Gumble, was a World War II veteran who died in 1979 in a parade float accident. Little is known about his mother, except that she lives in Norway and that she served in the United States Navy, including duty on a submarine. She is seen in the season nine episode "Simpson Tide". In Treehouse of Horror XVII, Barney stated that he was Polish, after mistakenly saying he was Irish in a drunken stupor. Barney was born on April 20 (which Homer remembers is also Hitler's birthday in "Viva Ned Flanders" and Barney's entry into the Springfield Film Festival in "A Star Is Burns" where Barney states that he is 40 years old). In the episode "$pringfield", he claims that he studied dance for several years, including modern and tap.

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