Line #7 Creator/HarryShearer


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Harry_Shearer_8375.jpg]]
2
3	->''"My job is to take what I think is funny and to make other people think it's funny, too."''
4
5	Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor and VoiceActor famous for starring as Derek Smalls in ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'', as well as his voicework on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where he played many characters, including:
6
7	* Religious neighbor Ned Flanders
8	* Cynical preacher Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
9	* School principal and ShellShockedVeteran who still lives with -- and is being controlled by -- [[MyBelovedSmother his mother]], Seymour Skinner
10	* [[BadBoss Evil nuclear plant owner]] Charles Montgomery Burns ''[[ActingForTwo and]]'' his increasingly TransparentCloset, sycophantic assistant Waylon Smithers
11	* Creator/BillCosby Expy and the town's only competent doctor Dr. Julius Hibbert[[note]]until season 32, when he was replaced by Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson due to controversy over white voice actors playing non-white characters[[/note]]
12	* Sarcastic, often [[KentBrockmanNews unprofessional]] news anchor Kent Brockman
13	* Homer's friend and plant coworker Lenford "Lenny" Leonard
14	* Grandpa Simpson's elderly [[VitriolicBestFriends vitriolic best friend]] Jasper Beardley
15	* Stoner bus driver Otto Mann
16	* Shady and mentally unstable amputee Herman, owner of Herman's Military Antiques
17	* Springfield Elementary's incompetent, homosexual music teacher, Mr. Largo
18	* Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger {{Expy}} [[TheAhnold Rainier Wolfcastle]][[note]]He also provided the voice for the "actual" Schwarzenegger, who had been elected President, in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie''[[/note]].
19
20	He has also hosted the satirical Creator/{{NPR}} series ''Le Show'' since 1983.
21
22	Shearer entered show business as a child actor, appearing in the film ''Film/TheRobe'' and on such TV programs as ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram'' and ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' as well as the pilot of ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver''. After attending college at UCLA and grad school at Harvard, he briefly worked as a staffer in the California state legislature and a high school English teacher before appearing with the satirical radio comedy troupe The Credibility Gap in the early '70s. Later in the decade worked as a writer for the ''Series/FernwoodTonight'' retool ''America 2-Night'' and helped pen the screenplay for Creator/AlbertBrooks' film ''Real Life''.
23
24	Shearer was a writer and cast member for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' during its fifth (1979–80) season, then returned during season ten (1984–85), Dick Ebersol's final season as show runner before Creator/LorneMichaels's return.
25
26	In May 2015, it was announced that he [[https://twitter.com/theharryshearer/status/598707703020658688 would be leaving]] ''The Simpsons'' as of its twenty-seventh season. In July of that year, however, the show's producers announced that they'd struck a deal with Shearer and he would remain in the cast.
27
28	----
29	!!Tropes applying to Harry Shearer:
30
31	* TheComicallySerious: Shearer's authoritative voice makes him the go-to for ''Simpsons'' characters who are humorously straitlaced and uptight, such as Principal Skinner and Smithers.
32	* CreatorBacklash:
33	** Has vocally condemned the infamous ''The Simpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper The Principal and the Pauper]]" for "tossing (Principal Skinner's character) in the trash can for no good reason."
34	** He was also [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8590717/The-Simpsons-actor-calls-shows-decision-stop-having-white-actors-play-POC-characters.html quite critical]] of the show's decision to [[TheOtherDarrin recast all non-white characters with people of color]], noting that a major point of acting is being able to play characters outside the actor's natural range.
35	--> I have a very simple belief about acting. The job of the actor is to play someone who they are not.
36	* FormerChildStar: As mentioned above, Shearer started out as a child actor in the '50s.
37	* HeAlsoDid:
38	** He was in the {{ADR}} loop group for ''Film/ANewHope'', voicing several minor characters such as Dex Tiree (Gold Two). He also was a part of the ADR group for ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', one of the first films to utilize the concept of "Crowd Walla".
39	** Shearer also contributed to the American ''Series/SpittingImage'' specials as the voice of several characters, chief among them Creator/JohnnyCarson.
40	* ManOfAThousandVoices: The number of ''Simpsons'' characters listed above are a ''mere handful'' of those he, Creator/DanCastellaneta and Creator/HankAzaria play.
41	* MoneyDearBoy: His reason for remaining on ''The Simpsons'', despite his contention that the show's quality has been going downhill since season four.
42	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In a particular "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror"'s credits, all of the members of the core voice actors have Halloween [[PunnyName pun names]]...except Shearer.
43	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
44	** During his first time on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', Harry Shearer begged NBC to make him the new executive producer after Creator/LorneMichaels announced that he would be leaving and that Creator/AlFranken was rejected for his "Limo For the Lame-O" report on Weekend Update. NBC said no, and that's how Jean Doumanian was picked to be season six's showrunner.
45	** He was in the original pilot for ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' and potentially could have been that show's HighSchoolHustler in lieu of Ken Osmond's Eddie Haskell. It's not quite a TheOtherMarty or TheOtherDarrin situation because he didn't play Eddie Haskell but rather a very similar character named Frankie Bennett.
46	** After Creator/PhilHartman's death in 1998, the Simpsons producers thought about having Shearer take over the role of Lionel Hutz before deciding to retire Hutz from the show along with Hartman's other recurring role, Troy [=McClure=], out of respect.

Context Creator / HarryShearer