Birthdate: October 25, 1957
Birthplace: Kettering, Ohio
While you might not recognize Nancy Cartwright's name, you're guaranteed to recognize her voice - she's not only the voice of Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, and Todd Flanders, she's also the voice of characters from Kim Possible and the new Disney Channel series, The Replacements. Kidzworld has the 411 on one of the best-known voice actors in the biz.
Nancy Cartwright - Aye Carumba, A Star is Born
Nancy Cartwright was the fourth of six kids born to Frank and Miriam Cartwright in the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio. She displayed her vocal talents at the early age of 10 when she won a district-wide school competition for her reading of Rudyard Kipling's How the Camel Got His Hump. When she was 12, Nancy was one of the youngest kids to be invited to the Summer Youth Theater Company - a group that traveled around Ohio performing musicals.
Nancy Cartwright - Finding Her Voice
When she was just 20 years old, Nancy Cartwright created the character of Lily Pad for a local radio station. Her character appeared on the radio every day for an entire summer. After her on-air debut, Nancy was put in touch with legendary voice actor Daws Butler (who was responsible for such classic voices as Elroy Jetson, Yogi Bear, and Quick-Draw McGraw). She and Daws became good friends and he mentored Nancy with her voice acting.
Nancy Cartwright - Video Killed the Radio Star
Nancy studied communications and theater at university before being cast as the voice of Gloria in Richie Rich - her first professional voice acting gig! She went on to land regular acting gigs as well - including roles on 80s TV hits like Cheers, Fame and Empty Nest. In 1987, Nancy auditioned for the role of Lisa Simpson's voice but landed the role of Bart instead. She won an Emmy for the role and went on to voice other characters on the Simpsons as well. Nancy also took on voice roles with other cartoons, including the voice of Rufus on Kim Possible, Daffney on Family Guy, and Chuckie on Rugrats. She recently signed on as the voice of Tod Daring on the new Disney Channel series The Replacements.
Nancy Cartwright - Did U Know?
- Nancy Cartwright turned down an offer to work on South Park because she thought the show was too offensive.
- Nancy wrote her autobiography in a book titled My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy.
- It was reported in 2005 that Nancy had entered politics and had been elected mayor of Northridge, California. In reality, she had been given the ceremonial title of "Honorary Mayor" by the Northridge Chamber of Commerce because Northridge is a neighborhood of LA and therefore has no mayor.
Nancy Cartwright Says...
"Bart's voice was really something that just came naturally to me. When I auditioned for the part of Bart, I gave Matt Groening one sound, and what you hear is what I did! I was hired on the spot."
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