Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (Yiddish: ‏הערשעל שמױקל פּינחס ירוחם קרוסטאָפֿסקי; Hebrew: הירשל שמויקל פנחס ירוחם קרוסטופסקי),[2][3] better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series The Simpsons.

Despite his cheery onscreen persona, Krusty is actually a cynical, burnt-out, addiction-riddled smoker who is made miserable by show business but continues on anyway.

Hyman strongly opposed Krusty's wish to become a clown and make people laugh, believing that it would distract Herschel from his religion, wanting the boy to go to yeshiva instead.

[3] After leaving the Lower East Side of Springfield, Krusty started his show biz career as a street mime in Tupelo, Mississippi (Elvis Presley's birthplace).

[6] Krusty and Sophie bonded over time, and while not a full-time father, he is known to acknowledge her birthdays and occasionally references his daughter publicly.

The show later takes a different turn, featuring Ravi Shankar as a guest[9] and having Krusty howl a drugged-out version of The Doors' Break on Through (To the Other Side) in 1973.

[13] This reconciliation remains for the rest of the series, as Bob abandons his attempts for revenge on Krusty in favor of targeting Bart exclusively.

[4] For his part, Krusty is usually grateful for Bart's assistance, but almost immediately forgets about it — presumably due to his excessive drinking and drug habits as well as his general conceitedness — and usually does not even remember his name the next time they encounter each other.

It has been shut down by the health board many times for everything from overworking employees to stapling together half-eaten burgers to make new ones,[19] as well as using beef infected with mad cow disease to save money.

Krusty wastes money almost as fast as he earns it: lighting his cigarettes with hundred-dollar bills, eating condor-egg omelettes, spending huge sums on pornographic magazines and call girls, and losing a fortune gambling on everything from horse races to operas and betting against the Harlem Globetrotters.

[16] Krusty is a hard-living entertainment veteran, sometimes depicted as a jaded, burned-out has-been, who has been down and out several times and remains addicted to gambling, cigarettes, alcohol, Percodan, Pepto-Bismol, and Xanax.

Krusty appears to have used cocaine, one time emerging from a restaurant bathroom with white powder under his nose; however, he explains that he was simply researching a part for a film in which he played himself.

In his book Planet Simpson, author Chris Turner describes Krusty as "the wizened veteran, the total pro" who lives the celebrity life.

[25] The character was partially inspired by TV clown "Rusty Nails" whom The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and director Brad Bird watched as children while growing up in Portland, Oregon.

[30][31] Many events in Krusty's life parallel those of comedian Jerry Lewis, including his Jewish background, addiction to Percodan, hosting of telethons,[32] and appearance in an adaptation of The Jazz Singer.

When asked, Groening has simply noted that "[Simpsons] characters are collaborations between the writers, animators, and actors" without specifically confirming or denying the association.

[26] One concept initially saw Krusty being revealed as Homer's secret identity but the idea was dropped for being too complex and because the writers were too busy developing the series.

In "Bart the Fink", he abandons an idea to sail away with a new identity and swims towards shore, leaving a trail of yellow makeup in his wake and his natural white face underneath.

[37] Krusty's father Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky was played by Jackie Mason, who won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the episode.

This was shown in subsequent episodes like "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" but the trait was dropped after the first few seasons because it was hard for the writers to write for an illiterate character.

[40] In the episode "Lisa's Wedding", which is set fifteen years in the future, Krusty's design was significantly altered to make him look considerably older and was based on Groucho Marx.

Groening and Michael Weithorn[45] wrote a pilot script in which Krusty moved to Los Angeles and hosted his own talk show.

[46] Prior to Groening's live-action pitch, Simpsons showrunners Al Jean and Mike Reiss planned an animated Krusty spin-off in which he would be a single father in New York City.

[48] Playmates Toys has made a talking evil Krusty doll, based on the one that appeared in "Treehouse of Horror III".

[49] In 1992, Acclaim Entertainment released the video game Krusty's Fun House for PC and home consoles.

Krusty was made into an action figure, and several different versions were included as part of the World of Springfield toy line.

[54] Krusty appears as a playable character in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, released via a "Fun Pack" packaged with a Clown Bike accessory in November 2015.

[60] In 2004, Dan Castellaneta won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in "Today I Am a Clown", an episode that heavily features Krusty.

"[62] Matt Groening cites "Krusty Gets Busted" as his ninth favorite episode[63] and has said that he particularly loves Castellaneta's voice work.

Groening claims that he has to leave the room every time Castellaneta records as Krusty for fear of ruining the take.