Artie Ziff |
|
|
Artie Ziff, first seen as Marge Simpson's prom date with "busy hands" in high school, in a later episode was revealed to have become a nerdy software millionaire. His wealth came from a device that transforms modem noise into easy listening music. In that episode, he offers a small fortune for a night with his childhood love, Marge, in parody of the movie Indecent Proposal.
Later in the series, Ziff returns. It is revealed that he ran his company, Ziffcorp, into the ground spending investors' money on such extravagant items as solid gold underpants (a parody of the excesses of the Dot-Com era). He would party with Newt Gingrich, Janeane Garofalo, and Scottie Pippen. But he lost all his money and secretly moved into the Simpsons' attic. When Homer wins 98% of the company from Ziff in a game of poker, Homer is held legally responsible when the Securities and Exchange Commission comes to arrest Ziff. Homer goes to jail until Ziff turns himself in, and Ziff immediately begins putting out other prisoners' cigarettes with a squirt bottle as the episode ends. The Simpsons family suggests that we may not see Ziff alive again because of this. Artie Ziff was voiced by Jon Lovitz.
It has been said that this character is loosely based on Robert D. Ziff, (R.D. Ziff.) The real Mr. Ziff is 38 years old, and is one of the richest people in the country. (Currently #165 in the Forbes 400.) He went to Harvard with one of the writers of the Simpsons.
|
|
|
|
