Seymour Skinner
|
|
Simp_skin.gif
Seymour "Spanky" Skinner is voiced by Harry Shearer. His birth name is Armon Tanzarian. Skinner is the prototypical educational bureaucrat, constantly concerned with a low-grade battle against the school's inadequate resources, apathetic, bitter teachers, and largely rowdy and unenthusiastic students--Bart being the standout example. His father fought on Abe Simpson's World War Two squad.
Seymour Skinner's personal history, like that of many Simpsons characters, is somewhat convoluted. It was long known that he was a Vietnam War veteran, having served as a POW for many years (he often goes into lapses on how he was mistreated). He leads the life of a bachelor, living alone with his domineering elderly mother (his father having passed away). However, in an episode devoted to filling in the character's backstory, it was revealed that Skinner actually is an impostor, having stolen the identity of his platoon sergeant at the end of the war. Seymour's real name is Armin Tamzarian (an Armenian name) and he was a troublesome orphan until he joined the military. Believing the real Skinner to have been killed, Tamzarian returned to Springfield and assumed his identity to comfort his mother. However, at the end of the episode, Judge Synder granted Tamzarian Skinner's name, past, present, future, and mother, and decreed that no one should mention his real identity again under penalty of torture. This storyline bears some resemblance to the tale of Martin Guerre. Many Simpsons fans consider this to be one of the worst episodes ever, and the Simpsons writers have mocked it themselves in a couple of episodes.
In later seasons Skinner and Edna Krabappel started dating, and later got engaged. Later again they broke up, although it has been hinted that he still wants her and they may get back together in the future. He still lives at home with his mother, Agnes Skinner.