Marge Simpson

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Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Marge was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the character after his mother Margaret Groening. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.

Marge is the well-meaning and extremely patient mother of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Marge is the moralistic force in her family and often provides a grounding voice in the midst of her family's antics by trying to maintain order in the Simpson household. She is often portrayed as a stereotypical television mother and is often included on lists of top "TV moms". She has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsonsincluding video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, and comic booksand inspired an entire line of merchandise.

Marge's distinctive blue beehive hairstyle was inspired by a combination of The Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore in the 1960s. Julie Kavner, who was a member of the original cast of The Tracey Ullman Show, was asked to voice Marge so that more voice actors would not be needed. Kavner has won several awards for voicing Marge, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992. She was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature for her performance in The Simpsons Movie. In 2000, Marge, along with the rest of her family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She was raised by her parents, Jacqueline and Clancy Bouvier. She has a pair of sisters, the joyless twins, Patty and Selma, both of whom vocally disapprove of Homer. In "The Way We Was" (season two, 1991), it is revealed via flashback that Marge attended Springfield High School, and in her final year met Homer Simpson. She was at first wary of Homer, but agreed to go to the prom with him, although she ended up going with Artie Ziff. However, she regrets going with him because he tried to have sex with her afterwards. Arite takes her home and later on she picks up Homer, who was walking home in her car. Marge tells him how much she regretted going to the prom with Arite instead of him, causing Homer to somewhat repair the strap of her dress with the corsage he got her. After that decision, her sisters showed their discontent towards him and ultimately thinks he was just wrong for her. However, Selma does show that she's willing to make a sincere attempt to like Homer for Marge's sake, causing him to have a higher opinion of her. Whereas, Patty has never attempt to try her and is always on her case to leave him, thus it's why she and Homer hate each other. After the two started dating for several years, Marge discovered she was pregnant with Bart, and she and Homer were married in a small wedding chapel across the state line. Lisa was born soon after, and the couple bought their first house. The episode "That 90's Show" (season 19, 2007) contradicted much of the established back-story; for example, it was revealed that Marge and Homer were childless in the early 1990s although past episodes had suggested Bart and Lisa were born in the 1980s. Of course, the writers of the alluded to the contradictions of "That 90's Show" to earlier established storylines in the episode.

As with many Simpsons characters, Marge's age changes to serve the story. In season one (1990) episodes "Life on the Fast Lane" and "Some Enchanted Evening", Marge is said to be 34. In "Regarding Margie" (season 17, 2006), Homer mentions that Marge is his age, meaning she could be anywhere between 36 and 40.

Marge has been unemployed for most of the series, choosing to be a homemaker and take care of her family. However, she has held several one-episode jobs in the course of the series. These include working as a nuclear technician alongside Homer at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in "Marge Gets a Job" (season four, 1992), owning her own pretzel business in "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" (season eight, 1997), and working at an erotic bakery in "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes" (season 20, 2008). While Marge has never expressed discontent with her role as a homemaker, she has shown that she has become bored with it. In "The Springfield Connection" (season six, 1995), Marge decides that she needs more excitement in her life and becomes a police officer. However, by the end of the episode, she becomes upset with the corruption in the force and quits.

Marge Simpson's birthday is October 1, the same as Randy Quaid. (episode: Marge Gamer)[/color]