The Simpsons is well-known for having hundreds of celebrities guest voices on the series. In fact, with more than 500 guests over the decades, it holds the Guinness World Record for the most number of celebrities and stars to appear on the show than any other series on television.
Often times, popular guests have played yellow versions of themselves in the Simpsons universe, but many of the permanent residents of Springfield were actually modeled after real life people from the very beginning.
Check out this list of some series regulars and the real-life people and celebrities who share an uncanny resemblance with them:
Joseph Fitzgerald O'Malley Fitzpatrick O'Donnell the Edge "Diamond Joe" Quimby, or better known simply as Mayor Quimby, is the smooth-talking "Corruptus in Extremis" (Extremely Corrupt) mayor of Springfield.
Mayor Quimby is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and was inspired by President John F. Kennedy and many others from the Kennedy clan.
Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle is a muscly Austrian action star most known for playing the character of McBain in a series of movies in the Simpsons world.
He is an obvious real-life parody of muscle-man-turned-actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wolfcastle is voiced primarily by Harry Shearer.
The richest man in Springfield, Charles Montgomery Burns, owns the Springfield Nuclear Plant where Homer Simpson works. Although mostly portrayed as miserly and frail, he has also teamed up with Homer on some escapades throughout the years.
The real-life inspiration for Mr. Burns, according to creator Matt Groening, partly came from his high school teacher, Mr. Baily, as well as Norwegian real estate developer and billionaire Olav Thon. Just like Thon, Mr. Burns has no heirs and is a "reclusive millionaire." He is presently voiced by Harry Shearer.
Otto the Bus Driver is best known for his long hair and love for rock and roll music. His nickname was actually coined by Bart Simpson who called him "Otto Mann" on several occasions.
Otto's appearance was inspired by Slash, lead guitarist of Guns 'n' Roses. According to Harry Shearer, who also voices the character, Otto was conceived as "a caricature of heavy metal music aficionados who mostly play guitar and do drugs while occupying a low-level labor job."
Resident B-Movie actor and infomercial host, Troy McClure, is Springfield's Hollywood has-been. Each time he made an appearance, he would introduce himself with the "You may remember me from..." allusions to any two of his previous projects, which were always somehow remotely related to the current project he was presenting.
The character of Troy McClure was based on two real-life B-Movie actors, Troy Donahue and Doug McClure. He was voiced by the late Phil Hartman.
