It has been suggested in the series that Homer is between 36 and 39 years old. In one episode, a quiz indicates he will die at 42 and he wails that he has "only three years to live"; it should be noted that Homer's mental arithmetic is not necessarily reliable. Various episodes have given his date of birth as May 12 1956, May 10 1955, and even 17-23-1956 [sic].
Homer and his family probably live at 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Several alternative house numbers on Evergreen Terrace are given in various episodes, including 59, 94, 743, and 1094, in addition to 430 Spalding Way.
Homer works in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, although "working" in this case refers to dozing and eating doughnuts. He spends a great deal of his time at Moe's Tavern with his lifelong friends Barney, Carl, Lenny, and Moe, the bartender.
His hobbies include heavy drinking (especially local favorite, Duff Beer), television, bowling, and whatever he fancies from week to week.
A lifelong resident of Springfield, Homer's essential personality traits presented themselves early on. He was raised solely by his father after the approximate age of 11. Homer slid through his classes and apparently graduated despite not passing Remedial Science until some twenty plus years later. His senior yearbook reveals a lack of interest in sports and activities, and his quote was "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." In high school Homer fell in love with Marge Bouvier, whom he would later marry (though both would later learn they had first met while children at summer camp). Following the completion of his outstanding high school coursework, Homer entered Springfield University and graduated due solely to illicitly changed grades. His education was further buttressed by Clown College, Bodyguard School, Successmanship 101 and mandatory Family Skills courses.
With regard to his health, Homer is incredibly lucky to be alive. He has broken nearly every bone in his body and received countless cuts and bruises, both major and minor. He has blown out his knee, had his thumb cut off, undergone a triple coronary bypass, had corrective eye surgery, been in a coma, had his jaw wired shut, donated a kidney, suffered repeated back trauma, been institutionalized, nearly destroyed his stomach with beer, and been shot multiple times. Furthermore, his brain is cushioned by a unique genetic condition: "Homer Simpson's syndrome."
As widely evidenced, Homer's mind is vacuous nearly throughout but sprinkled with occasional dense packets of knowledge. He has shown small bursts of astonishing foresight, memory, creativity, and fluency with language (including Japanese, German, Chinese, Spanish, and penguin). These bursts are almost always temporary and constantly changing. The nature of this intellect is multi-fold. Much of his mental ability is suppressed by the presence of a wax crayon in the frontal lobe of his brain, the result of a bizarre childhood mishap. Also credited is the Simpson gene, which almost guarantees that male Simpsons become underachievers. Further, Homer at least once volunteered himself for experimentation by the Army Neurochemical Research Center.
Homer is inclined to fall into mental fantasy, often drifting off into his own world or perceiving reality in a more personally appealling manner. Notable are the odd conversations he has with his own brain, typically in an adversarial tone.
Homer is also prone to becoming very emotional, especially when it comes to his neighbors, the Flanders family or to troubles related to his son, Bart. He is also deeply compassionate, if not initially so.
On the food front, Homer is particularly fond of doughnuts and pork chops, but also pie, chili, KrustyBurgers, nachos, bacon, potato chips, heroes/hoagies/grinders. His diet is not a good example to younger viewers and this point is frequently made throughout the series. Homer typically responds to food with drooling and exuberant postures.
While Homer generally enjoys the affection of all Springfield, his mental and emotional nature have garnered him more than a few lasting enemies. Most notably is the deceased Frank "Grimey" Grimes, for the death of whom Homer was indirectly but intensely responsible. This naturally resulted in the rancor of the aforementioned's son, Frank Grimes, Jr Other adversaries of note include his sisters-in-law Patty and Selma Bouvier, employer C. Montgomery Burns, Springfield University Dean Bobby Peterson, "Professor Know-It-All" the parrot, President George H. W. Bush, the Prime Minister of Japan, the City of New York, the State of Florida and an inanimate carbonrod. As of late, Homer has turned soft toward his neighbor and longtime enemy Ned Flanders.
Homer has gone by many names and aliases. While in the Witness Relocation Program, the family assumed the surname "Thompson." Homer legally changed his name to "Max Power" for a time to escape public ridicule. He has also been known by many nicknames, including "Homey," "Home-boy," "Colonel Homer," "Dancin' Homer," "Hungry, Hungry Homer," the "Brick Hit House," the "Southern Dandy" and "Bottomless Pete, Nature's Cruelest Mistake," among others.
Groening has stated that he named the core of the Simpsons family after members of his own family (Homer, after his father in this case). He also acknowledges that Homer Simpson happens to be a character in Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust.
Homer Simpson popularized the annoyed grunt "D'oh!" (made memorable, of course, through Dan Castellaneta's distinctive voice work) as an abbreviated form of Jim Finlayson's "Dooooh" from the films of Laurel and Hardy. This modern interjection has found such popular acceptance as to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Children's Model-Building Contest, 1997
Grammy Award for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop Album of the Year, 1985 (Be Sharps)
Greaser's Café Dance Contest, 1999
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, (Dr. Haing S. Ngor or Don Ameche)
Springfield Bowling Championship, 1996 (PinPals)
P.J. O'Harrigan's "Sir Drinks-A-Lot," 1999
Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, 2000
Springfield Olympic Mascot Contest,1999 (Springy)
High school reunion awards: "most weight gained," "most hair lost," "most improved odor," "oldest car," "lowest paying job," and for "travelling the least distance to get to the reunion," among others, 1993 (awards later withdrawn)
