Milhouse Van Houten

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Milhouse Van Houten
The Simpsons character
First appearance	"The Butterfinger Group" (1988)
Created by	Matt Groening
Designed by	Matt Groening
Voiced by	Pamela Hayden Hank Azaria ("Hardly Kirk-ing")
In-universe information
Full name	Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten
Gender	Male
Occupation	Student at Springfield Elementary School
Family	Kirk Van Houten (father) Luann Van Houten (mother)
Relatives	Jeremy Van Houten (paternal grandfather) Sophia "Yiayia Sophia" Mussolini (maternal grandmother) Norbert "Zack" Van Houten (paternal uncle) Bastardo Paulo (maternal uncle) Annika Van Houten (paternal cousin) Jillhouse Van Houten (paternal cousin) Eustace Van Houten (paternal great-great-grandfather) Milford Van Houten and Eliza Simpson (great-great-great-great-great-grandparents) Simpson family
Origin	Italian-Greek-Dutch-Danish American

Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten^[1] is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series The Simpsons voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School. He is insecure, gullible, and is often led into trouble by Bart, who takes advantage of his friend's naïveté. Milhouse is a regular target for school bully Nelson Muntz and his friends Jimbo Jones, Dolph Starbeam and Kearney Zzyzwicz. He has an unrequited crush on Bart's sister, Lisa, which is a common plot element.

Milhouse debuted in the 1988 commercial "The Butterfinger Group" while The Simpsons was still airing as a cartoon short series on the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. When The Simpsons was greenlit for a full series by Fox, Milhouse became one of the series' most prominent recurring characters. Groening chose the name Milhouse, also the middle name of President Richard Nixon, because it was the most "unfortunate name [he] could think of for a kid".^[2] Milhouse's appearance is based on that of Rob Cohen.^[3]