Melvin Van Horne

Melvin Van Horne (also known by his stage-name Sideshow Mel) is Krusty's sidekick on The Krusty the Clown Show. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose British/Shakespearean accent and owns poodles.

Replacement for Bob
Mel joined the cast of the Krusty the Klown Show to replace Sideshow Bob in April 1977, who was sent to prison for attempting to frame Krusty for armed robbery the previous month. It seems that Krusty unceremoniously replaced Bob with someone even stranger-looking than he was.

Sideshow Mel uses a slide whistle to communicate on camera. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose British/Shakespearean accent and owns poodles. His main accomplishment so far has been successfully removing Waylon Smithers from suspicion of having shot Mr. Burns. Off-screen, Mel is generally very eloquent, educated, poetic and intelligent, with a beautiful singing voice-it is implied that, as with Sideshow Bob before him, his true talents are wasted on Krusty's show. When Lisa Simpson won the "Entertainer of the Year Award";it was revealed that Melvin also won the award previously for his portrayal of Biff in Death of a Salesman. . He was once forced to conduct an orchestra of kazoo-playing monkeys. When he pleaded with Krusty to not force him to do it, Krusty simply shouted at him to "shut up and conduct!"

Religion and Education
Little is known about Mel. He is a Cornell University graduate and an Atheist (though he is occasionally seen at the Presbylutheran church). It is also shown that Mel could be a recovering alcoholic as he had attended several Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.

Hair
Mel perpetually wears a bone in his hair which may or may not be permanently affixed. He once warned Lisa Simpson not to use a bone to try and get gum out of her hair, as he did and it became permanently stuck there. However, he was once seen removing the bone and using it as a weapon during a duel. When Springfield was trapped under a dome by the EPA, he was also seen removing the bone and whacking it at the dome. He indicated that he could feel meteorological conditions in the bone, such as incoming storms. Before he got his bone, Mel was famous in both London and Hollywood and was able to comb his hair.

Disabilities
Bart Simpson found out that Mel is lactose-intolerant. Krusty once poured liquid nitrogen down Mel's pants and cracked his buttocks with a hammer.

Family
He may be married to or living with a woman named Barbara, who may or may not be Krusty's sister with whom he wished to purchase a house from Marge Simpson. Mel once complained that Barbara no longer pleasured him with the French Arts. Mel's last name of Van Horne, along with his accent, may suggest his family is of South African origin.

Krusty reveals to Mel that he has been secretly dating Mel's wife, and that he wants to dump her after 11 years since the thrill is gone.

Other Jobs
After Krusty's show was cancelled following the rise of Gabbo, Mel worked at a taco stand where he initially refused Krusty's pleas to return to his show.

He was the jury foreman for the Mona Simpson trial. The jury was sequestered at a Quality Inn which "more than lived up to its name."