Bouvier family
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The Bouvier Family are fictional characters from the American animated sitcom The Simpsons created by Matt Groening, as Marge Simpson's blood relatives.
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[edit] Key family members
- Clancy Bouvier (Father)
- Jacqueline Bouvier (Mother)
- Patty Bouvier
- Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure Stu Simpson
- Marjorie "Marge" Bouvier Simpson (see also Simpson family)
- Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson
- Ling Bouvier (Selma's adoptive daughter)
[edit] Jacqueline Bouvier
Jacqueline Ingrid "Jackie" Bouvier is the mother of Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, and Selma Bouvier, and the wife of the late Clancy Bouvier. She also had a sister named Gladys, who is now deceased. Like all Bouvier women, she was voiced by Julie Kavner. Like her twin daughters, Patty and Selma, she smoked heavily and speaks as raspily as they do. She never smiles, except in "Lady Bouvier's Lover", thus seeming largely pessimistic, critical and unsociable. She also seems to disapprove of Marge's marriage to Homer (this, again, is a similarity with Patty and Selma, who share a hatred for their brother-in-law). Her favorite song is Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. Jacqueline was married to Clancy Bouvier until his death. She had a brief romance with Abraham Simpson, Homer's father. However, she broke up with him when she was wooed by billionaire Montgomery Burns, whom she came close to marrying before Abraham's intervention made her decide she was better off alone. The character is created by creator Matt Groening, and named after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose maiden name was Bouvier.
[edit] Clancy Bouvier
Clancy Bouvier is the deceased father of Patty and Selma Bouvier and Marge Simpson and the husband of Jacqueline Bouvier. His first appearance was in the episode "The Way We Was". He didn't appear again until Fear of Flying where it was revealed that he was one of the earliest male flight attendants. The cause or time of his death is undetermined, (In a comic in an issue of Simpsons Illustrated Lisa attributes his death to an accident involving a roller coaster, but whether this is canon is unclear.) but it occurred some time after Marge married Homer as he got her a "white-noise machine" to help her deal with his death according to Jazzy and the Pussycats.
[edit] Uncle Arthur
Uncle Arthur is Bart's uncle. Therefore, he would be either Marge or Homer's brother or cousin. However, Homer is an only child (at least, Herb and Abbie are not seen regularly). It seems more likely that he is Marge's brother. She presently has only two sisters (Patty and Selma) and has only mentioned him once; but she was quite ashamed and said she would never speak of him again, which makes it more likely that he was her relative, not Homer's. Uncle Arthur is currently deceased. He used to have a saying, "Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out," until one day he put his theory into practice, and it took 75 federal marshals to bring him down".[1] Another possibility is that Uncle Arthur was a great-uncle.
[edit] Aunt Gladys
Gladys Bouvier was the aunt of Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma Bouvier, and the sister of Jacqueline Bouvier. Patty and Selma considered her a role model for the two of them.
Her death was noted in the episode "Selma's Choice", in which she died of a bowel obstruction. Her funeral at the Lucky Stiff Funeral Home in Littleneck Falls was attended by the Simpson family and a few other people, who all left when they realized Gladys was not wealthy. The Reverend giving the service thought she was a man.
Her will was recorded on video tape and was played by her lawyer, Lionel Hutz (who recorded over Gladys' voice in attempt to inherit $50,000, but was immediately caught out by Marge). In it, she left Marge her collection of potato chips which resemble celebrities — which were quickly eaten by Homer. She left Jacqueline her pet iguana Jub-Jub (Jacqueline was not pleased, stating "Why didn't she just leave me the bowel obstruction that killed her!"). And finally she left Patty and Selma a grandfather clock and a warning of the dangers of spinster-hood.
While Patty seemed to be unfazed by her plea, Selma took it to heart, and immediately set out to find the right man, who could give her children. She pursued the ideas of artificial insemination and marrying Hans Moleman, but, after a day at a theme park with Bart and Lisa, she decided motherhood wasn't the life for her and instead adopted Jub-Jub as her own pet (though she later would adopt a daughter named Ling Bouvier [see below] from China).
Gladys, like all Bouvier women, was voiced by Julie Kavner. This character, like all original characters in The Simpsons, was created by creator Matt Groening.
[edit] Ling Bouvier
Ling Bouvier was adopted by Selma Bouvier in China after discovering that she had reached menopause, in the 2005 episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan". She adopted Ling after posing as Homer Simpson's wife in order to fool the Chinese authorities into thinking that Ling would be part of a traditional family as opposed to a single mother.
Ling has only appeared in four episodes so far. First, she appeared in her adoption episode, and had a brief appearance in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" when the twins open the door to discover "hostage" MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) missing. (Selma was holding Ling during the scene). She also appeared in "The Wife Aquatic" at the outdoor movie theater with Selma. Ling also made another appearance in the latest season of The Simpson's in the 15th episode called Rome-old and Juli-eh. Selma is holding her when she comes to watch Grampa.
