Boomhauer
Encyclopedia
Jeff Dexter Boomhauer III, almost always referred to as simply Boomhauer, is a fictional character in the animated series King of the Hill
. The character is voiced by series creator Mike Judge
, and is known for his nearly incomprehensible speech.
Boomhauer, who lives at 73 Rainey Street, is the neighbor of the characters Hank Hill
, Bill Dauterive
, and Dale Gribble
. Although he introduced himself as Jeffery Dexter Boomhauer III in the 2000 video game, his first name was not revealed in the tv series until the 13th season episode, "Uh-oh, Canada," when the Canadian
woman with whom he'd switched houses for the summer said, "Hello, Jeff. Oh my, it's the fifteenth already?". It's assumed that since he has his father's name, his family and friends took to calling him "Boomhauer" to prevent confusion of who's being spoken to. In another episode, he's called Jimmy Dean by an elderly neighbor. His primary pursuits are fast cars and women. He currently drives a 1968 Dodge Coronet
; in high school he drove a late 60's Ford Mustang
nicknamed "Ms. Sally
" (the name being a reference to the classic Wilson Pickett
song Mustang Sally
) until the car was accidentally driven into the Arlen quarry
by Dale, Hank and Bill while playing a prank on him. Boomhauer spends most of his spare time drinking Alamo Beer with Hank, Dale and Bill in the alley behind Hank’s house. While he enjoys his friendship with Hank, he sometimes has limited patience with Dale (who he sharply refers to as "Gribble") and considers Bill "boring" due to his inferiority complex
. Boomhauer favors animal-print bikini
briefs, which have been observed a few times in the show when he’s appeared without his blue jeans
; he tends to overuse cologne, bragging about his Calvin Klein CK1
attracting women "like catnip". Boomhauer is a strict non-smoker who still carries a lighter, implicitly for emergencies or for lending.
In an episode where Hank, Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer are stuck in the water because they jumped off a boat, Boomhauer confesses that he dyes his hair ("Hank's on Board
"). According to his Texas driver's license, which is seen on the series finale, Boomhauer is 6 ft tall, 185 lbs, and has hazel eyes. Boomhauer is missing his left pinky toe, due to an accident while he was in the Order of the Straight Arrow ("Straight as an Arrow
").
Boomhauer is apparently highly astute and often gives advice to his friends. Once after giving advice to Bobby Hill
, Bobby replies by saying “I can see why my dad's always quoting you, Mr. Boomhauer.” He is also a frequent voice of truth, owning up to the wrongdoings of the group, despite not always acting appropriately himself, although since his speech pattern is not understood by most people his confessions are usually ignored. In the episode "A Firefighting We Will Go
" after Hank blamed the deceased Chet Elderson for causing the fire station to burn down, Boomhauer pointed out that Dale Gribble was the one who plugged in the malfunctioning Alamo Beer sign. However, the fire chief does not understand him and decides that the blame for the fire will be placed on electrical problems, in order to leave the integrity of Chet Elderson's name intact. In another episode, he mentions that his mother wanted him to become an electrical engineer. Given the opportunity, Boomhauer will demonstrate that he is, in fact, quite cultured. In "Ceci N’Est Pas Une King of the Hill", Hank Hill makes remarks about art that deride its modern state, provoking Boomhauer to call him ignorant, going so far as to cite Dadaism and the famed Marcel Duchamp
work Fountain
. He is the only character who initially understood the meaning behind Kahn's story at Buckley's funeral.
Three of the main characters, Hank, Dale and Boomhauer, graduated from high school together (Bill did not complete his senior year having enlisted in the United States Army
). Boomhauer was the starting quarterback
for the football
team, while Hank was a running back
and Bill was an offensive lineman and a fullback
(which seems ironic for his current state); Dale, not being as athletic as his friends, was the towel manager. Dale Gribble referred to basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain
as Boomhauer's idol in the season 11 episode serPUNt. According to Hank, Boomhauer is allergic to macadamia nuts. Boomhauer is the most modern of the four friends, and as such was first to own a cell phone.
. He mumbles, usually quite fast, and invariably uses the words "dang ol’" as an all-purpose adjective, sometimes several times in a single sentence. He uses the phrases "I tell ya what" and "man" frequently. His heavy Southern accent sometimes leads to misunderstandings about his mental capacity. In one episode, he was admitted to a mental hospital
in downtown Houston after he drifted in on the river in a tube and was found in his Speedos
, sunburned, drunk, and dehydrated, while his speech pattern was misinterpreted by a police officer as incoherent babbling. All of the regular characters on the show understand most of what he says. There is a recurring joke in which Hank occasionally cannot understand Boomhauer due to extenuating circumstances such as the complexity of the vocabulary being used (i.e. "legalese mumbo jumbo"), a bad telephone connection or an echo. Often, the closed caption texts of Boomhauer’s mumblings are clearer than his spoken words. An example of a typical line of dialog:
Boomhauer’s speech is satirical of “rednecks” using phrases such as "dang ol'", “dad gum” and “yeah, man talkin’ ’bout” and has the cadence and style of a Cajun
accent. Nevertheless, he sings clearly, as evidenced by his rendition of “Blue Moon of Kentucky
” in Episode 113 (“The Bluegrass Is Always Greener”); this same episode reveals that he also has a talent for the banjo
and the accordion. The singing was done by country star Vince Gill
. Mike Judge
has stated that the inspiration for Boomhauer’s voice came from a message left on his answering machine by an irate viewer of Beavis & Butt-Head as well as the voice patterns of an acquaintance in Dallas and an Oklahoma City
resident reciting directions over the telephone. The season 1 episode "Hank's Got the Willies" shows Boomhauer and the famously incomprehensible Bob Dylan
conversing with one another. In “A Fire Fighting We Will Go,” when a story is presented from Boomhauer's point of view, he speaks clearly while the other characters have his usual speech pattern, indicating that Boomhauer sees his speech as normal and that of his associates as difficult to understand.
Early promotional spots for the series featured clips of Boomhauer speaking, intercut with text that presented the term "Boombonics" in the style of a dictionary
entry, as a reference to "Ebonics" (AAVE). The word was broken down into syllables, with proper pronunciation and the definition (see gibberish
).
Although he only mumbles when speaking English, he is fluent in both Spanish
and French
.
in his only speaking appearance (he appeared again for a split second at Luanne and Lucky's wedding). Mrs. Boomhauer, Patch and Meemaw all have the same speaking pattern as Boomhauer; Dr. Boomhauer has not been shown speaking, only through other characters paraphrasing what he may have said. He is the Uncle of Patch's son, Patrick Boomhauer. They live in Florida.
once mentions (likely in jest) his longest relationship was a three-day weekend. Occasionally he had girlfriends that he dated for more than sex. In the episode "Uh-Oh, Canada", Boomhauer moves to Guelph
, Ontario
and has a 3 month relationship with a French-Canadian woman.
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
. The character is voiced by series creator Mike Judge
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge is an American animator, film director, writer and voice actor, best known as the creator and star of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-head , King of the Hill , and The Goode Family .He also wrote, directed and in some instances produced the films Beavis and...
, and is known for his nearly incomprehensible speech.
Boomhauer, who lives at 73 Rainey Street, is the neighbor of the characters Hank Hill
Hank Hill
Henry Rutherford "Hank" Hill Age 50 animated series King of the Hill. Hank lives in Arlen, Texas and works at the fictional Strickland Propane selling propane and propane accessories. Hank's voice is provided by series creator Mike Judge. The Economist named Hank Hill as one of the wisest people...
, Bill Dauterive
Bill Dauterive
Bill Dauterive, born Gillaume Fontaine de la Tour D'Haute Rive is a fictional character on the Fox animated series King of the Hill...
, and Dale Gribble
Dale Gribble
Dale Alvin Gribble is a fictional character in the animated series King of the Hill. and is voiced by Johnny Hardwick . He is an exterminator, bounty hunter, smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories and urban legends...
. Although he introduced himself as Jeffery Dexter Boomhauer III in the 2000 video game, his first name was not revealed in the tv series until the 13th season episode, "Uh-oh, Canada," when the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
woman with whom he'd switched houses for the summer said, "Hello, Jeff. Oh my, it's the fifteenth already?". It's assumed that since he has his father's name, his family and friends took to calling him "Boomhauer" to prevent confusion of who's being spoken to. In another episode, he's called Jimmy Dean by an elderly neighbor. His primary pursuits are fast cars and women. He currently drives a 1968 Dodge Coronet
Dodge Coronet
The Coronet was a full-size car from Dodge in the 1950s, initially the division's highest trim line but, starting in 1955, the lowest trim line. In the 1960s, the name was transferred to Dodge's mid-size entry.-1949:...
; in high school he drove a late 60's Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
nicknamed "Ms. Sally
Mustang Sally
Mustang Sally can refer to*Mustang Sally , written by Mack Rice and recorded by Wilson Pickett*Mustang Sally , a 2006 horror movie*Salvatore "Mustang Sally" Intile, a minor character on The Sopranos...
" (the name being a reference to the classic Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
song Mustang Sally
Mustang Sally
Mustang Sally can refer to*Mustang Sally , written by Mack Rice and recorded by Wilson Pickett*Mustang Sally , a 2006 horror movie*Salvatore "Mustang Sally" Intile, a minor character on The Sopranos...
) until the car was accidentally driven into the Arlen quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
by Dale, Hank and Bill while playing a prank on him. Boomhauer spends most of his spare time drinking Alamo Beer with Hank, Dale and Bill in the alley behind Hank’s house. While he enjoys his friendship with Hank, he sometimes has limited patience with Dale (who he sharply refers to as "Gribble") and considers Bill "boring" due to his inferiority complex
Inferiority complex
An inferiority complex, in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, is a feeling that one is inferior to others in some way. Such feelings can arise from an imagined or actual inferiority in the afflicted person...
. Boomhauer favors animal-print bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
briefs, which have been observed a few times in the show when he’s appeared without his blue jeans
Blue Jeans
"Blue Jeans" is a sentimental popular song written by Harry D. Kerr and Lou Traveller in 1920. In the song, the singer is reminiscing about a long-ago young love that happened somewhere in the "hills of the old Cumberland." The chorus echoes the singer's longing:* The Parlor Songs Collection.* by...
; he tends to overuse cologne, bragging about his Calvin Klein CK1
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
attracting women "like catnip". Boomhauer is a strict non-smoker who still carries a lighter, implicitly for emergencies or for lending.
In an episode where Hank, Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer are stuck in the water because they jumped off a boat, Boomhauer confesses that he dyes his hair ("Hank's on Board
Hank's on Board
"Hank's on Board" is the 187th episode in the Fox TV comedy King of the Hill, and was broadcast as the 10th season premiere, although it was produced for the 9th season.-Plot:...
"). According to his Texas driver's license, which is seen on the series finale, Boomhauer is 6 ft tall, 185 lbs, and has hazel eyes. Boomhauer is missing his left pinky toe, due to an accident while he was in the Order of the Straight Arrow ("Straight as an Arrow
Straight as an Arrow
"Straight as an Arrow" is the seventh episode in the 13th season of the Fox animated series King of the Hill, and the 242nd episode overall. It originally aired on November 30, 2008. Andy Richter guest stars.-Plot:...
").
Boomhauer is apparently highly astute and often gives advice to his friends. Once after giving advice to Bobby Hill
Bobby Hill (King of the Hill)
Robert Jeffrey "Bobby" Hill is a character on the animated series King of the Hill and is voiced by Pamela Adlon. Bobby is the only child of Hank and Peggy Hill.- Biography :...
, Bobby replies by saying “I can see why my dad's always quoting you, Mr. Boomhauer.” He is also a frequent voice of truth, owning up to the wrongdoings of the group, despite not always acting appropriately himself, although since his speech pattern is not understood by most people his confessions are usually ignored. In the episode "A Firefighting We Will Go
A Firefighting We Will Go
"A Firefighting We Will Go" is the 10th episode in the third season of the Fox animated series King of the Hill, and the 45th episode overall.-Plot:...
" after Hank blamed the deceased Chet Elderson for causing the fire station to burn down, Boomhauer pointed out that Dale Gribble was the one who plugged in the malfunctioning Alamo Beer sign. However, the fire chief does not understand him and decides that the blame for the fire will be placed on electrical problems, in order to leave the integrity of Chet Elderson's name intact. In another episode, he mentions that his mother wanted him to become an electrical engineer. Given the opportunity, Boomhauer will demonstrate that he is, in fact, quite cultured. In "Ceci N’Est Pas Une King of the Hill", Hank Hill makes remarks about art that deride its modern state, provoking Boomhauer to call him ignorant, going so far as to cite Dadaism and the famed Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
work Fountain
Fountain (Duchamp)
Fountain is a 1917 work by Marcel Duchamp. It is one of the pieces which he called readymades. In such pieces he made use of an already existing object. In this case Duchamp used a urinal, which he titled Fountain and signed "R. Mutt". Readymades also go by the term Found object...
. He is the only character who initially understood the meaning behind Kahn's story at Buckley's funeral.
Three of the main characters, Hank, Dale and Boomhauer, graduated from high school together (Bill did not complete his senior year having enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
). Boomhauer was the starting quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for the football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, while Hank was a running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
and Bill was an offensive lineman and a fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
(which seems ironic for his current state); Dale, not being as athletic as his friends, was the towel manager. Dale Gribble referred to basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
as Boomhauer's idol in the season 11 episode serPUNt. According to Hank, Boomhauer is allergic to macadamia nuts. Boomhauer is the most modern of the four friends, and as such was first to own a cell phone.
Occupation
Boomhauer's occupation wasn't made clear throughout the series. While the final episode "To Sirloin With Love" reveals that Boomhauer has a Texas Ranger badge in his wallet, an early episode reveals that Boomhauer worked as an electrician until he was put on workman's compensation for unknown reasons. In "Three Coaches and a Bobby," Hank and the guys run into their old High School Football Coach. Coach Sauers asks Boomhauer how the family is, and Boomhauer says "Man they're doin' fine, man. Man lil' dang old down in old Florida man, like ol' lottery winner, man, like all, just no problems, man." Coach Sauers responds "I'm sorry to hear that." It's possible that Boomhauer has a rich benefactor.Trademark speech pattern
Boomhauer’s speech patterns are nearly incomprehensible to the untrained audience and serve as a recurring themeRunning gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
. He mumbles, usually quite fast, and invariably uses the words "dang ol’" as an all-purpose adjective, sometimes several times in a single sentence. He uses the phrases "I tell ya what" and "man" frequently. His heavy Southern accent sometimes leads to misunderstandings about his mental capacity. In one episode, he was admitted to a mental hospital
Mental Hospital
Mental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
in downtown Houston after he drifted in on the river in a tube and was found in his Speedos
Swim briefs
A swim brief, or racing brief, refers to any briefs style male swimsuit such as those worn in competitive swimming and diving. The popularity of the Australian Speedo brand racing brief has led to the use of its name to refer to any racing brief, regardless of the maker...
, sunburned, drunk, and dehydrated, while his speech pattern was misinterpreted by a police officer as incoherent babbling. All of the regular characters on the show understand most of what he says. There is a recurring joke in which Hank occasionally cannot understand Boomhauer due to extenuating circumstances such as the complexity of the vocabulary being used (i.e. "legalese mumbo jumbo"), a bad telephone connection or an echo. Often, the closed caption texts of Boomhauer’s mumblings are clearer than his spoken words. An example of a typical line of dialog:
Boomhauer’s speech is satirical of “rednecks” using phrases such as "dang ol'", “dad gum” and “yeah, man talkin’ ’bout” and has the cadence and style of a Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
accent. Nevertheless, he sings clearly, as evidenced by his rendition of “Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Moon of Kentucky
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley....
” in Episode 113 (“The Bluegrass Is Always Greener”); this same episode reveals that he also has a talent for the banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and the accordion. The singing was done by country star Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
. Mike Judge
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge is an American animator, film director, writer and voice actor, best known as the creator and star of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-head , King of the Hill , and The Goode Family .He also wrote, directed and in some instances produced the films Beavis and...
has stated that the inspiration for Boomhauer’s voice came from a message left on his answering machine by an irate viewer of Beavis & Butt-Head as well as the voice patterns of an acquaintance in Dallas and an Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
resident reciting directions over the telephone. The season 1 episode "Hank's Got the Willies" shows Boomhauer and the famously incomprehensible Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
conversing with one another. In “A Fire Fighting We Will Go,” when a story is presented from Boomhauer's point of view, he speaks clearly while the other characters have his usual speech pattern, indicating that Boomhauer sees his speech as normal and that of his associates as difficult to understand.
Early promotional spots for the series featured clips of Boomhauer speaking, intercut with text that presented the term "Boombonics" in the style of a dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
entry, as a reference to "Ebonics" (AAVE). The word was broken down into syllables, with proper pronunciation and the definition (see gibberish
Gibberish
Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but carries no actual meaning. This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook. The common theme in gibberish statements is a lack of literal sense, which can be described as a presence of nonsense...
).
Although he only mumbles when speaking English, he is fluent in both Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
Family
Boomhauer has had four relatives that have appeared on the show: his “Meemaw” (a Southern term for grandmother); his father, Dr. Jeffery Boomhauer II; his mother, Mrs. Boomhauer; and his sleazy, womanizer brother, Patch, voiced by Brad PittBrad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
in his only speaking appearance (he appeared again for a split second at Luanne and Lucky's wedding). Mrs. Boomhauer, Patch and Meemaw all have the same speaking pattern as Boomhauer; Dr. Boomhauer has not been shown speaking, only through other characters paraphrasing what he may have said. He is the Uncle of Patch's son, Patrick Boomhauer. They live in Florida.
Romantic life
Boomhauer's typical romantic life included one-night stands with several young women. Peggy HillPeggy Hill
Margaret J. "Peggy" Hill is a fictional character in the American animated series King of the Hill.-Biography:Peggy is the matriarch of the Hill family, and the wife of series protagonist Hank Hill. She wears rimless glasses and is generally seen wearing cut-off blouses and culottes...
once mentions (likely in jest) his longest relationship was a three-day weekend. Occasionally he had girlfriends that he dated for more than sex. In the episode "Uh-Oh, Canada", Boomhauer moves to Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and has a 3 month relationship with a French-Canadian woman.