No, Jacob Rothschild was not inspiration for Simpsons' bad guy

There's been a long standing conspiracy theory that the Mr Burns character in The Simpsons was based on Lord Jacob Rothschild.

Lord Rothschild was a financier, philanthropist and head of the Rothschild empire, and his family confirmed on February 26 the 87-year-old grandfather had died. According to last year's Sunday Times Rich List, the family has an estimated fortune of £825m.

Lord Rothschild's wife Serena, who he was married to for more than 50 years, died in 2019 and he leaves behind four children and as many grandchildren.

Claims have been circulating online for years that Lord Rothschild was the inspiration for Mr Burns, Homer Simpson's evil boss in the hit TV show The Simpsons.

So much so, that when learning about his death, a number of X / Twitter users said 'the real life inspiration for Mr Burns has gone'.

But according to the book 100 Things The Simpsons Fans Should Know Before They Die, 'a vessel for jokes and ideas about America's history of greed, Mr Burns was modelled after famous rich American men and Matt Groening's high school teacher'.

In a TV Guide story in 2000, creator Groening reportedly said: "The twin models for Burns' personality are real-life oil tycoon John D Rockefeller and Henry Potter, the miserly banker played by Lionel Barrymore in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life."

His physical appearance was 'based on Barry Diller, who was running Fox Broadcasting when The Simpsons debuted on the network in 1989' and his 'body language is modelled on a praying mantis', says animator David Silverman in the same article.

So no, Lord Jacob Rothsfield was not the inspiration for Mr Burns in The Simpsons.

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