Professor Frink

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Professor Frink

Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr. is a recurring character on The Simpsons. He is Springfield’s nerdy scientist and professor, very smart but a bit mad and socially awkward. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in 1991 in the episode “Old Money.” The character was inspired by Jerry Lewis’s Julius Kelp. Frink was originally drawn as an evil scientist, but Azaria’s Jerry Lewis–style voice made the writers change him into a goofy, lovable nerd.

Appearance and role: Frink wears thick glasses, a lab coat (green in early seasons), a blue bow tie, a white shirt, and pink pants. He has buckteeth and a center-parted hair. He teaches at Springfield Heights Institute of Technology and runs his own observatory. His IQ is given as 197 (it was 199 before a concussion). He is a polite, friendly man who speaks in Jerry Lewis–style gibberish when excited, often rambling in long sentences and using fancy or invented science words.

Inventions: Frink loves creating gadgets, but many don’t work or backfire. Notable ideas include hamburger earmuffs, a matter teleporter, a frog exaggerator, automatic tapping shoes, a sarcasm detector, the 8-month-after pill, and a drilling machine that can cut through anything. Some devices, like a small remote-controlled plane carrying babies, crash or fail in comic ways.

Other details: Frink has discovered “Frinkonium” and can use astrology to predict the future; he has been shown to time travel as well. He has a son who pilots a remote-controlled plane in one episode, and there are jokes about his wife and his limited contact with women.

Treehouse of Horror and legacy: Frink often appears in the Halloween Treehouse of Horror stories, which are not part of the main timeline. In Treehouse of Horror XIV, he revives his dead father with Jerry Lewis guest-starring as the father, and Frink is shown to win a Nobel Prize in that segment. He remains a popular character, appearing in comics, video games, and The Simpsons Ride at theme parks.

Impact: The name Frink inspired the real programming language Frink, designed to handle units of measure in calculations. Hank Azaria has said Frink is one of his favorite roles, and many fans remember his distinctive voice and quirky inventions.