10 Actors Who Turned Down Voicing Characters On The Simpsons

The circumstances surrounding this one are a tad tricky to investigate, with so few details publicly known, but William Hickey is believed to have been in the running to voice Chester J. Lampwick in season seven's The Day The Violence Died. Reportedly the writers' first choice for the voice, Hickey had to turn the offer down for reasons currently unknown.

In the episode, Lampwick alleges to Bart and Milhouse, who are in pursuit of the Itchy & Scratchy Parade for its diamond jubilee celebrations, that he's responsible for having created the Itchy persona and, furthermore, the style of violence synonymous with the cartoon.

Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, then-writers and producers on The Simpsons, believed that William Hickey would have been perfect for the role, his harsh, raspy voice being the style they were aiming for. That he was famed for portraying what has been described as "grouchy, mean old men" only furthered the justification for Hickey to play the role.

The role instead went to Kirk Douglas, who - per Nancy Cartwright in her excellent My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy book - was a struggle once in the recording studio, refusing to wear the provided headphones and rushing through his lines with two takes "at most", amongst other issues.