Luann Van Houten
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| The Simpsons character | |
 |
|
| Age | 30s |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair Colour | Blue shoulder length hair |
| Job | Unknown |
| Relatives | Son Milhouse and ex-husband Kirk |
| First appearance | Homer Defined |
| Voice actor | Maggie Roswell |
Luann Van Houten is a fictional character on the television program The Simpsons, and is the mother of Milhouse. She is voiced by Maggie Roswell. When Roswell left the show, Luann was turned into a non speaking character, most of the times only appearing in the background and in group scenes.
[edit] Profile
Luann Van Houten was born in Shelbyville. An episode where Milhouse visits his grandmother implies that Luann is an Italian American hailing from Tuscany, but her character totally lacks the over-the-top stereotypical Italian mannerisms associated with most of the other Italian Americans on The Simpsons, such as Fat Tony. When she was younger, she went to "Camp Land-A-Man" with Marge Simpson, Patty and Selma Bouvier, Helen Lovejoy and Cookie Kwan.
She often thinks Bart Simpson is a bad influence on her son. She also seems to enjoy jacuzzis. She is a good mother as she often encourages Milhouse to be confident and tells him he is not a loser, despite the obvious and ironic quirks that make him a loser. In her spare time, Luann acts as a member of Springfield's volunteer fire department.
[edit] Relationship with Kirk Van Houten
She left Kirk after an argument during a game of pictionary, in which Kirk claimed that it was no wonder he couldn't draw dignity -- he lost it all when he married her. Although Kirk was finding single life tough, Luann is now using her freedom as a single mom to live life in the fast lane. Luann has been dating American Gladiator Pyro (a reference to real-life Gladiator Nitro), but she was caught cheating on him with his best friend Gyro.
In the episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", the Van Houtens are on the verge of re-uniting, so Bart and Milhouse try copying a stupid stunt from a parody of The O.C. to try and get them separated again. This backfires, and results in Homer and Marge almost separating again. The two then try another idea, attempting to push a fake Bart off the side of a waterfall, which also backfires. At the end of the episode, Milhouse jumps over the side, screaming "I don't want to live in a world without Bart!" Marge asks if Milhouse can swim, to which Bart's reply is "What do you think?"
[edit] Trivia
There was speculation on internet message boards about whether or not Luann and Kirk were related, citing the similarity in appearance, but Matt Groening cleared up the issue in a 1998 TV Guide interview, claiming that people are often attracted to those who look like them, and citing that "Brad Pitt looks like Jennifer Aniston in a wig". Although the man who fires Kirk is according to Luanne her father, he looks nothing like her. Luanne must have her mother's looks, and she must look like Kirk's family.
