Personal details
- Birth Date: 1951-11-20
- Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Birth Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
- Professions: Actor, Additional Crew, Composer
Rodger Bumpass, born in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 20, 1951, kicked off his path in acting back at Little Rock Central High School, where theater first caught his eye. The guy didn’t stop there—Arkansas State University was next, majoring in radio-TV, minoring in theater, hustling at the campus radio station and juggling all kinds of gigs at KAIT-TV. Announcer, film processor, cameraman—you name it, he did it. Jump to 1977, and he scored a spot in National Lampoon’s wild music and comedy tour, That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick, hitting the road until ‘78. Then came a quirky turn in the HBO special Disco Beaver from Outer Space. Bumpass even landed a lead role in a planned National Lampoon flick called Jaws 3, People 0, where he was supposed to have a love scene with Bo Derek—only for the whole thing to get axed thanks to the original Jaws folks not having it. In 1980, he came up with the character ‘Fartman’ for the National Lampoon LP The White Album, which, believe it or not, ended up inspiring Howard Stern’s version down the line. Most people these days know him as the snarky, clarinet-playing Squidward Tentacles (and a bunch of other voices) on SpongeBob SquarePants. But that’s not all—he’s also been The Chief in Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Dr. Light in Teen Titans, and Professor Membrane in Invader Zim. The man’s got over 693 film credits under his belt, and even snagged a Daytime Emmy nod in 2012 for Squidward. Total legend status.
Bumpass got busted for drunk driving back in January 2016. Yeah, not exactly his proudest moment. But he actually owned up to it—totally cooperated with the cops and then hopped on social media to drop a pretty real apology. He didn’t try to dodge it or blame anyone else, just straight-up admitted he messed up. Fans were half-expecting Nickelodeon to kick him to the curb, but nah, that didn’t happen. The network decided not to fire him, probably because he was upfront and handled things like a grown-up. Honestly, when you see a celeb not hiding behind PR statements and actually saying “Hey, I screwed up,” it’s kinda refreshing. Stuff like this could easily tank someone’s career, but Bumpass managed to keep his job and keep voicing those iconic characters. Just goes to show, sometimes owning your mistakes really does pay off.
I’m not that guy and he’s definitely not me, but honestly, the stuff I have to do for him—plus the stuff I actually can do for him—kind of makes it feel like we’re the same person. It just fits. Like, the weird quirks and random skills I’ve picked up along the way? Turns out, they’re actually really useful here. So yeah, in that sense, he’s sort of me, just... not really. I mean, let’s be real: I’m not some grumpy, cynical, guy-who-never-tries type. That’s all him. He’s got this whole underachiever vibe going on, always with the dry remarks and the side-eye. But I get it. It’s weirdly easy to slip into his shoes. Like, you start talking like him, thinking like him, and suddenly you’re halfway there. Doesn’t mean I am him, though. Not even close. But still, the overlap is wild.
November 20, 1951
5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
73 years old