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Dan Castellaneta
Even if he had done nothing else in his career, veteran actor, writer, and voice-over artist, Dan Castellaneta's place in pop culture history was well secured, thanks to his singular creation of Homer J. Simpson, the loutish father figure on Fox's long-running animated comedy "The Simpsons" (1989- ). Castellaneta provided the voice of Homer and numerous other characters on the show, lending his elastic vocal talents to a host of other animated shows and features as well. If the series had not made his face a familiar one in households around the world, it certainly afforded him job security and the ability to express himself in a variety of different forums, including CDs, books, and theater.