The Simpsons has killed off a character who has been around for almost 35 years. Larry Dalrymple or Larry the Barfly was often spotted at Moe’s Tavern drinking beer and though he never really talked, he formed quite a team with Homer, Lenny, Carl and Moe.

A few days ago showrunner Matt Selman shared a poll on X asking fans to guess “Who will breathe their last?” in a new episode: Homer, Marge, Bart or “Larry the silent barfly”. Ultimately, he was killed off in the episode Cremains of the Day. And he died as he lived, on a stool at Moe’s Tavern.

Larry the Barfly made his debut in the very first Simpsons episode, the 1989 Christmas special Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. The few words he spoke over the years were voiced by Harry Shearer, who also provides the voices for several major Simpsons characters including Mr Burns, Ned Flanders and Waylon Smithers.

Larry the Barfly (second from left) stands behind Moe (left) and Barney outside Moe's Tavern in a 1989 episode of The Simpsons.

In the episode Cremains of the Day, Homer and the gang are seen watching a sports game at Moe’s. After the team Moe bets against wins, he throws everyone out of the bar but Larry collapses. At the funeral, the Moe’s Tavern gang realise they didn’t know Larry well even though he was around all the time. When Larry’s mother, Iris Dalrymple, asks the men to say a few words about her son’s love of fishing, all they could do is come up with a story.

“Why did you never take the time to get to know this man?” Marge asks them. Home being Homer says: “Marge, Larry just didn’t fit into our band of bros.”

Ironically, the four are given the task of taking Larry’s ashes to his “special place”, Serenity Falls, after being gifted a group photograph of them all together by Larry’s mother.

Larry was ever present in the show’s long tenure, even though he was a background character. He had his first speaking role in season two, episode 10, Bart Gets Hit by a Car, when he wolf-whistled at Marge after she entered Moe’s Tavern.

Lenny, Carl, Moe and Homer Simpson mourn Larry in the Simpsons episode Cremains of the Day. Fox

Producer Tim Long has told TMZ that the final episode featuring Larry was intended to “hit the audience hard”, especially because The Simpsons rarely kills off characters.

There have been instances when a few characters have been killed, but it has happened in the same episode as their first appearance. These are characters who have been central to particular episodes. For example, in season eight, episode 23, Homer’s Enemy’ Homer’s enemy Frank Grimes accidentally dies by electrocution while imitating Homer’s tomfoolery.

And then there are characters who died after earlier appearances, like Maude Flanders, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Edna Krabappel and Mona Simpson. Edna was killed due to her real-life actor’s untimely death.

Tim Long, who co-ran the episode Cremains of the Day said the Barfly's death was impactful regardless of how small his role was because The Simpsons characters aren't often killed off. Tim Long

Tim Long, who co-ran the episode Cremains of the Day, said that the reaction to Larry’s death speaks to the impact the show still has. He said in an email seen by Variety: “To paraphrase Shakespeare, nothing became Larry’s life like the way he left it: drunk, lonely, and with a butt full of sapphires…. To me, it’s sort of fitting that some fans are taking Larry’s demise as hard as Homer and his friends do. It’s just a measure of how much the show still means to people. I mean, nobody would have been upset if the Flintstones had killed off the Great Gazoo. If anything, they would have been thrilled. The episode is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about the fear of death. Simpsons characters have always had unusually rich emotional lives, and this episode is really about their anxiety over ‘what comes next’ (and I don’t mean ‘Krapopolis’).”