10 Characters From The Simpsons Who Were Total Rip-Offs
10. C. Montgomery Burns Is Based On A Norwegian Billionaire
A balding, reclusive senior citizen billionaire; a pretty sound description of Charles Montgomery Burns. That same description also fits Fredrik Olsen, a Norwegian shipping magnate who is chairman of the Fred Olsen Group, which includes tankers, cruise ships, and the Timex Corporation. While the look of Burns matches Olsen almost comically, many of Burns' other mannerism match other famous, wealthy men from the early-Hollywood years. Henry Potter, the selfish, greedy, completely compassionless banker from It's A Wonderful Life is an obvious comparison, as is Charles Foster Kane, the title character from Citizen Kane (it's where the "Charles" in "C. Montgomery Burns" comes from.) Eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes' life was swiped and given to Burns for an entire episode (Season 5's "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Legalized Gambling)".) Fellow billionaires John D. Rockefeller and David Rockefeller could both see aspects of their lives portrayed on-screen, and Mr. Burns' voice and habit of reading employee information from a card were inspired by former U.S. President Ronald Regan. And finally, his hand-gesture while announcing something as "Excellent"; that was inspired by former writer Jim Downey.
The 'House is a father of two and husband of one in Minnesota. He is an improv comedian, and in his spare time follows WWE, MLB, The Simpsons, and Bob's Burgers. Growing up he was a huge fan of He-Man, and refuses to believe that it was in fact terrible.
