Chief Wiggum
Character from The Simpsons franchise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chief Clancy Wiggum[4] is a character from the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sarah Wiggum.
- "Homer's Odyssey"
- January 21, 1990
| Clancy Wiggum | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons character | |
| |
| First appearance |
|
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Designed by | Matt Groening |
| Voiced by | Hank Azaria[1] |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Police chief of Springfield |
| Family | Iggy Wiggum (father) Mark (cousin)[2] Unnamed brother[3] |
| Spouse | Sarah Wiggum |
| Children | Ralph Wiggum (son) |
Gluttonous, irresponsible, and immature, Wiggum is often too lazy, cowardly, and corrupt to bother fighting crime. His more responsible subordinate officers Eddie and Lou play the straight men to his shenanigans.
Character development
His surname "Wiggum" is Matt Groening's mother's maiden name and her parents were Norwegian immigrants.[5] As "a conscious pun", Wiggum was designed to look like a pig.[6][7] Hank Azaria first based his voice for Wiggum on David Brinkley, but it was too slow and he switched it to an Edward G. Robinson impression.[6][7] The first use of his first name being Clancy was in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", but in the script for "The Telltale Head" his name was Abner Wiggum.
Biography
Many episodes have dealt with the back story of how Wiggum, despite his incompetence, occupies such a high rank in the Springfield Police Department. However, these jokes tend to contradict one another, as is typical with side characters on The Simpsons.[8] Wiggum was temporarily promoted to Commissioner of Police for the state in which Springfield resides during the 2005 episode "Pranksta Rap".[9] He also appeared on a Halloween novel depicting Netflix's Stranger Things Chief Jim Hopper.[10]
