Jasper Beardsley
Jasper Beardley
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Character Information
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Jasper Beardly (voiced by Harry Shearer) is one of the elder residents of Springfield. His most distinguishing trait and the origin of his name is his very long beard. Jasper is a veteran of World War II. Jasper also tried to avoid the draft by disguising himself as a woman and staying in Springfield to play in the local women's baseball league, along with his friend Abe, who was also avoiding the war.
Blindness
A running gag through the series is his poor eyesight, often mocked. In "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", he mistakenly calls Bart a girl. Bart had then furiously said "I'm not a girl! What, are you blind?" Jasper sadly replies "Yes...". Once, a laser had cured his eyes so he could see. When a second laser blinded him, he said "Well, easy come, easy go".
Popularity
Jasper was put in crude "suspended animation" in the Kwik-E-Mart's freezer, and under advice from Dr. Nick Riviera, Apu kept him frozen. When Jasper's frozen form became popular with customers, Apu started exploiting the spectacle, and transformed the Kwik-E-Mart into a special interest store dealing with weird items, or perfectly ordinary ones which had been made out to be abnormal. Jasper (or "Frostillicus," as Apu renamed him) was accidentally unfrozen, and stepped out into what he thought was a future world, just as Apu was considering selling him to the Rich Texan.
Past Life
According to a deleted scene from the season eight episode "In Marge We Trust", it was revealed that Reverend Lovejoy succeeded Jasper as Minister of the First Church of Springfield.
First Appearance
Jasper made his first appearance in Homer's Odyssey.
Diabetes
It was also revealed in the episode I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings that he is a diabetic.
