Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discotheque-Simpson-D'Amico ( ) are fictional characters in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. They are identical twins and are voiced by Julie Kavner who also voices their sister Marge. Patty and Selma, both gravel-voiced chain-smokers, work at the Springfield Department of Motor Vehicles. They have a strong dislike for their brother-in-law, Homer Simpson, who likewise loathes them. Selma, the elder by two minutes, longs for male companionship and has had multiple brief, doomed marriages, and has herself offered help in some fashion to Marge and Homer as she envies their loving relationship; she receives occasional compassionate support from Homer who even poses as her husband to help her adopt a child. Patty is an initially closeted lesbian who embraces celibacy until she begins dating women. Kavner voices them as characters who "suck the life out of everything". Patty and Selma debuted on the first Simpsons episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which aired on December 17, 1989.
Distinguishing features
Being twins, the two have a similar look, but there are several easy ways to distinguish them, including:
Hairstyle: Patty has an afro, while Selma's hair is parted in the middle.
Attire: Patty wears a short-sleeved pink dress and pink shoes while Selma wears a hemmed sleeveless blue dress and blue shoes. Jewelry: Patty wears blue or orange triangular earrings and spherical beads connected by a visible string, while Selma wears orange or purple circular earrings (occasionally earrings shaped in an "S" in early episodes) and elliptical beads attached to each other. They both resemble their chain-smoking father Clancy Bouvier who appeared in a flashback of the episode "The Way We Was".
In the episode "The Blue and the Gray", it is revealed that Selma is actually a blonde, while Patty is a redhead. Their hair has turned blue-gray from long-term exposure to cigarette smoke and ash.
Biography
Rarely seen apart, Patty and Selma are known for their distinctive gravelly voices, cynical outlook on life, bitter and unpleasant personalities, and love of cigarettes. They share an apartment at the Spinster City apartment complex and both work at the DMV. The two are avid, sometimes maniacal fans of the TV series, MacGyver. The two seem to be aroused by the character and smoke a cigarette after every viewing of the show. When Jay Sherman, on advice from Homer, told Patty and Selma that MacGyver is gay, they stripped him to his boxers and hung him from the gutters. On the eve of Selma's marriage to Sideshow Bob, he insulted MacGyver and the wedding was almost cancelled as a result. Selma and Patty once met the actor who portrayed MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, and kidnapped him. Patty and Selma have taken many vacations together to various places including Czechoslovakia and the Dead Sea, where Selma sunk to the bottom when she attempted to float on her back. Patty and Selma have also brought home "souvenirs" from their vacations, including a pillowcase full of seashells from their trip to Sulfur Bay that they forced the family to help them clean and organize. They drove away Richard Dean Anderson by showing him slides of their trip to the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston, Alberta.