10 Best Simpsons Guest Stars (Who Played Themselves)

One of the few qualifiers for this list, aside from having guest starred in The Simpsons at all, is that the person in question must have played themselves. Michael Jackson, technically, only played a man who thought he was Michael Jackson: Leon Kompowski.

Still, for the majority of the episode he’s Michael Jackson in all but appearance, so counts here by the slimmest of margins. Stark Raving Dad such a classic episode that it feels a shame to leave it out here.

True, revelations since have cast the finale, where he a) teams up with a ten year old and b) sneaks into an eight year old’s room in a different light, but unfortunately that’s true of everything Michael Jackson has touched. He even has a song called Do You Know Where Your Children Are?, which is poorly titled.

However, Lisa It’s Your Birthday is a brilliant Simpsons song, and away from that Jackson’s time in the mental hospital with Homer is comedy gold too. Jackson’s high, soft voice clashing with Homer’s boisterous tones is brilliant to see... or hear.

Season 3 was the start of The Simpsons becoming the legendary juggernaut that it is, and this guest spot proves exactly why.