When Matt Groening's and David X. Cohen's animated sci-fi sitcom "Futurama" was still in the earliest days of its development, voice actor Billy West was shown drawings of the characters he might be playing on the show. When he was shown a picture of Dr. Zoidberg, the impoverished lobster physician at Planet Express, West figured the arthropod's voice would sound muffled and jowly due to the tendrils of meat hanging off his face. West reached deep into his mental vault of celebrities he could imitate and came out with two obscurities: Dr. Zoidberg was a combination of George Jessel — a Vaudeville comedian and longtime Toastmaster of Ceremonies at multiple political gatherings in the '40s and '50s — and Canadian actor Lou Jacobi from "Irma la Douce" and "Arthur."
Zoidberg is a deliberately pathetic character, often full of self-pity and embarrassment. He's also a terrible doctor, often grafting...
Zoidberg is a deliberately pathetic character, often full of self-pity and embarrassment. He's also a terrible doctor, often grafting...
- 9/4/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
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