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Herschel Schmoeckel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky is the cynical, burnt out, addiction-riddled smoking clown host of Bart and Lisa's favorite TV show, The Krusty the Clown Show.

Herschel Krustofsky was born to Jewish parents and grew up in the Lower East Side of Springfield. His father, respected Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, came from a long line of rabbis, looking for his son to follow in his footsteps. Hyman forbade his son from becoming a clown, but Herschel continued anyway, getting his first laughs at his Yeshiva impersonating his father. His father continued to try and discourage his son, by taking away his props, such as his seltzer bottle.

Despite his perseverance at comedy, he was top of his Yeshiva class. He received his comedy break though entertaining the Rabbis at the Talmudic conference. Wearing clown make-up to hide his appearance, he is well received by the crowd, making balloon sculptures of the Menorah and the Star of David. However, when someone sprays water over his face, his identity is revealed, much to the dismay of his father, who disowns him. He never had a Bar Mitzvah.

After this, Krusty moved to Tupelo, Mississippi, where he worked as a street mime. His first TV appearance was in the 1950s on "The Milk of Magnesia Summer Cavalcade", pretending to be a Russian satellite. However, he said the word "Pants" which got him banned from TV for 10 years. He then got another chance on "Laugh-In", but got stuck behind the shutter doors, putting his career back another 22 years...