Elena (formely Smithers) is the ex-wife of Waylon Smithers.
History[]
Homer is teaching a course called "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" at the local Adult Education Annex and the students are telling him their relationship problems including Smithers saying, "Um, I was married once, but, uh, I just didn't know how to keep it together." Elena then appears in a black-and-white flashback where Elena speaks in a Southern accent and pleads for Waylon to make love to her the way he used to, but Smithers, on crutches and wearing a bathrobe, refuses. Elena then blames "that horrible Mr. Burns" and Smithers yells at her to bring up Mr. Burns and smashes the liquor bottles with the crutches in anger. They are interrupted to Elena's annoyance by Mr. Burns yelling out, "Smithers" in the courtyard outside their rooms. ("Secrets of a Successful Marriage")
Burns calls Marge Simpson, "your wife" to Smithers. ("Bottle Episode")
Behind the Laughter[]
Mr. Burns falls deathly ill with hypohemia (a made-up disease) and needs a blood transfusion. Smithers immediately offers his own saying, "Just leave me enough to get home." and in the original script version of the line was "enough so he can go back to his wife and kids." ("Blood Feud")
Elena is parodying Elizabeth Taylor playing Maggie the Cat desperate to regain her husband Brick's attention in the Mississippi-set movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof which was adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. Maggie the Cat's alcoholic and closeted husband Brick is depended on crutches because he broke his ankle after tripping over some hurdles in a failed attempt to recapture his high school glory days. Instead of Mr. Burns Brick refuses to make love to his wife because of Maggie the Cat's indiscretion with Brick's recently deceased friend Skipper and later she confronts Brick's own love for Skipper.
Appearances[]
Episode – "Blood Feud" (1st mentioned) (cut)- Episode – "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" (flashback)