In 1998, the comedy world lost a legend when Phil Hartman was tragically murdered in his sleep by his wife. However the legacy he left behind, particularly with his work on The Simpsons, is something that will always be remembered. One of his many gifts was voicing the character Troy McClure, who you may remember as Springfield’s washed-up B-Grade movie actor who apparently has a strong passion for fish. His classic introduction of “Hi I’m Troy McClure! You may remember me from…” has become one of the most quotable Simpsons lines of all time (be honest, you read that in his voice didn’t you?), so to celebrate this amazing character, here are 13 Troy McClure facts that you may not have known:

1. He was actually voiced by Dan Castellaneta on two occasions, in “Bart’s Dog Gets An F” and “Mr Lisa Goes To Washington”.

2. Besides Phil Hartman, McClure was also based on B-Grade movie actors Troy Donahue and Doug McClure.

3. Doug’s daughter has mentioned to Mike Reiss that her father found the homage funny.

4. He first appeared in the episode “Homer vs Lisa And The 8th Commandment”.

5. The character was retired after the tragic passing of Phil Hartman in 1998.

6. His last appearance came in the episode http://zizics.com/profile/Paulsen site: – ov index yes “Bart The Mother”.

7. In total, he appeared in 39 episodes http://identyme.com/Paulsen before being retired.

8. He is the host of the popular 90s game, ‘Virtual Springfield’.

9. Matt Groening has said that the reason Phil Hartman was hand picked to play McClure was because of his ability to get “the maximum amount of humour” out of any line of dialogue he was given.

10. The reason the animators added the extra line under his eye was to suggest that he had gotten a facelift in the past.

11. Hartman often used his McClure voice to entertain fellow cast members in between takes whilst filming the sitcom ‘NewsRadio’.

12. It was James L Brooks who suggested giving McClure the fish fetish.

13. It’s been revealed that there were plans to create a live-action movie starring Hartman as McClure, however it never eventuated due to his untimely death.

So there you have it, 13 Troy McClure facts that you may not have known. Are there any important ones you think we’ve left out? Be sure to post them in the comments section below. Don’t forget to check out our ‘Top 10 Troy McClure Moments’ and our ‘Best Of Troy McClure’ videos!

PS: Also have a listen to our Simpsons podcast and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show via the links below!

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