Movies - TV
Why The Simpsons Episode Lisa's Substitute Doesn't Credit Dustin Hoffman
By MICHAEL BOYLE
Fans of actor Dustin Hoffman and “The Simpsons” instantly recognize the veteran star’s voice behind the character named Mr. Bergstrom, one of Lisa’s teachers.
In a season 2 episode called “Lisa's Substitute,” Lisa establishes a personal connection with Mr. Bergstrom, a mature and thoughtful one-off character that the audience loved.
But despite Mr. Bergstrom’s popularity, the episode's closing credits don't properly credit Hoffman’s cameo performance, instead listing Sam Etic as a pseudonym for Hoffman.
“The Simpsons” writer Mike Reiss explained in his tell-all book “Springfield Confidential” that Hoffman joked about Bergstrom's Jewish features and asked that his name not be used.
“[S]o we called him Sam Etic, a terrible pun on Semitic [...]. Mr. Bergstrom has Dustin's voice and my face.” Hoffman later clarified that the name “Sam Etic” was his own idea.
Hoffman has never really elaborated on why he used a pseudonym, so fans speculated that such a serious, acclaimed actor was hesitant about being associated with a silly cartoon.
However, Yeardley Smith, who voiced Lisa, said of working with Hoffman, “[People] think of voice-over as being a lesser form of acting [but] it didn't seem like he felt that way.”