Meet the Real-Life Inspiration for Homer Simpson

After decades of rumors and half-reveals, Matt Groening has finally let slip the true inspiration behind his iconic character Homer Simpson. On Monday's episode of WTF with Marc Maron, Groening revealed that he got the central idea for America's favorite cartoon dad after seeing a beleaguered pizza shop owner from a 1982 PBS documentary. Groening recounted watching "Family Business," the third installment of the Middletown series, which chronicled the everyday grind in Muncie, Indiana, per Cracked.

The episode focused on Howard Snider, a Shakey's Pizza franchisee struggling to make ends meet while staffing his restaurant with his own reluctant and underpaid children. "He was going nuts," Groening told Maron. "I thought, this is a man, a sweet man, who's getting kicked in the a-- by life. I want to write about that. And that's where Homer came from." Snider died in 2016. Previously known: Homer's name is an homage to Groening's real-life father, and the character's trademark "d'oh!" was inspired by Scottish actor James Finlayson. (Homer is heading back to the big screen.)