Harry Shearer to Speak at Commencement

Release date: March 01, 2006 |

Comic actor, writer Harry Shearer to deliver keynote address at Goucher College’s 115th Commencement

Quick: What do Mr. Burns of The Simpsons, the bassist from Spinal Tap, and the original incarnation of Eddie Haskell have in common?

They’re all the creations of comic actor and writer Harry Shearer, who will deliver the keynote address at Goucher College’s 115th Commencement exercises on Friday, May 26.

President Sanford J. Ungar will preside over the ceremony, which will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the lawn behind Mary Fisher Hall. In the event of rain, the event will be held in the college’s Sports and Recreation Center.

This year’s graduating class probably knows Shearer best from his prolific—and almost schizophrenic—work as a voice actor on the animated television show The Simpsons. He is the voice of C. Montgomery Burns, the oldest and most evil plutocrat in the town of Springfield; Burns’ sycophantic sidekick, Waylon Smithers; and the diddly, doodly devout Ned Flanders.

Graduates’ older family members and loved ones might know Shearer better from his regular appearances on Saturday Night Live in the early eighties. Along with Michael McKean and Christopher Guest, Shearer also co-created, co-wrote, and co-starred in Rob Reiner’s 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about England’s loudest (fake) rock band. In 2003, Shearer, McKean and Guest teamed up again in A Mighty Wind, an acclaimed spoof about a folk-music reunion concert.

Shearer’s other film credits include The Right Stuff, The Fisher King, Wayne’s World II, and The Truman Show. His appearances on the small screen began in the 1950s, including a part on the Leave It to Beaver pilot. Since then, Shearer has had guest shots on Friends, Politically Incorrect, Ellen, Murphy Brown, and LA Law.

Since 1983, Shearer has hosted a radio comedy/music program, Le Show, on an NPR-affiliated station out of Santa Monica that airs on public radio stations nationwide. Additionally, he has written two books: Man Bites Town, a compilation of his Los Angeles Times Magazine columns, and It’s the Stupidity, Stupid, a short, satirical treatise about why people hate Bill Clinton. Not Enough Indians, a comic novel about Native Americans and gambling, is slated for publication this fall.