Richard

Richard is a gray haired student at Springfield Elementary School and is one of Bart's best friends.

Appearance
He is usually seen with Lewis and has a leather jacket. Richard appears frequently in scenes involving the Springfield children, and in the early seasons was often involved with mischief. He is seen in the opening sequence playing catch with Milhouse and Lewis. Also, in the new opening sequence he is seen in the band with Lisa and other students.

Family
His grandfather was seen in Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish".

Voice Actors
Throughout the series, he has been voiced by Jo Ann Harris, Nancy Cartwright, Pamela Hayden and Maggie Roswell. This is due to the fact that he rarely speaks and thus has no consistent voice actor.

Earlier Episodes
In the early seasons, he was commonly seen hanging out with Bart, Lewis and Milhouse. In recent years, however, he is only seen in the classroom and in crowd scenes. Over the years he has gone from supporting character to recurring character. He also helped Bart in the class election and was in Bart's army in Bart the General. He has talked in a few recent episodes such as The Haw-Hawed Couple and How the Test Was Won.

Hair
His hair color changes from black to grey, to brown, to blonde, and then to blue throughout the course of the show. Though, it's always grey in the Simpsons Comics. His hair is almost always grey in recent episodes now.

Creation
Richard was going to be a Asian kid, according to Season 1's Bart the Genius script, but early in the season he is changed to the same race as Bart. In some episodes he is seen with a yellow vest, starting with Bart the Murderer.