9. Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004)
As a comedian, Rodney Dangerfield was famous for remarking that he got "no respect." As the illegitimate son of billionaire C. Montgomery Burns, Larry Burns felt his father gave him "
No regard. No regard at all. No esteem either." In Season 8's "Burns, Baby Burns," Larry Burns was introduced to Springfield, having hitchhiked into town with The Simpsons. Mr. Burns, via flashback, explained that young Larry was conceived during a fling with the daughter of an old Yale girlfriend. Larry, we learned, spent his early life in an orphanage, got a job at a souvenir stand, and once saw a blimp; not exactly the kind of life befitting a Burns heir. Dangerfield played Larry with the kind of innocent buffoonery he would be famous for, both on stage and in film, even bringing back the song and dance number from
Caddyshack at the end of the episode, as the entire town danced and drank to Journey's
Any Way You Want It. It's also revealed near the end that Larry has a wife and children- "
They're probably wondering where I went. I told 'em I was going for coffee; that was a week ago!"- and he's never seen or heard from again. Perhaps, if not for Dangerfield's passing in 2004 due to complications following heart surgery, Larry and his family would have returned to visit Mr. Burns.