The Simpsons: 12 Shockingly Depressing Character Backstories

By Sam Heard /

4. Gil Gunderson

20th Century FoxGil Gunderson is a jack of all trades, master of none. He has held every job you can think of including estate agent, mall Santa and car salesman. From an early age Gil was cursed with the ability to fail at everything he did. At the tender of age of six he managed to send his brother€™s lemonade stand into bankruptcy and drank all of the produce. Unable to make sales or finalise deals, Gil often only keeps his job for a matter of days. In €˜Screaming Yellow Honkers€™ Gil discovers his wife is cheating with his friend and knows there is nothing he can do about it as she is all he has. In €˜I Don€™t Wanna Know Why The Caged Bird Sings€™, we find out Gil held a position as a security guard and was shot as he was entering the premises for his first day of work. It is also implied that Gil doesn€™t have a home with him having lived in a hostel and a storage locker. Perhaps most depressingly of all, Gil once tried to commit suicide by hanging himself with Christmas lights €“ the irony!