Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Jean Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress. She is the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, for which she has received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in the Field of Animation. Cartwright also voices other characters for the show, including Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Nelson Muntz, and Maggie. She is also the voice of Chuckie Finster in the Nickelodeon series Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!, succeeding Christine Cavanaugh.
This article is about the actress. For the philosopher, see Nancy Cartwright (philosopher).
Nancy Cartwright
Cartwright was born in Dayton, Ohio. She moved to Hollywood in 1978 and trained under voice actor Daws Butler. Her first professional role was voicing Gloria in the animated series Richie Rich, which she followed with a starring role in the television movie Marian Rose White (1982) and her first feature film, Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). In 1987, Cartwright auditioned for a role in a series of animated shorts about a dysfunctional family that was to appear on The Tracey Ullman Show. Cartwright intended to audition for the role of Lisa Simpson, the middle child; when she arrived at the audition, she found the role of Bart—Lisa's brother—to be more interesting. Matt Groening, the series' creator, allowed her to audition for Bart and offered her the role on the spot. She voiced Bart for three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show, and in 1989, the shorts were spun off into a half-hour show called The Simpsons.
Besides The Simpsons, Cartwright has also voiced numerous other animated characters, including Daffney Gillfin in Snorks, Mellissa Screetch in Toonsylvania, Rufus in Kim Possible, Mindy in Animaniacs, Pistol in Goof Troop, the Robots in Crashbox, Margo Sherman in The Critic and Todd Daring in The Replacements. In 2000, she published her autobiography, My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy, and four years later, adapted it into a one-woman play. In 2017, she wrote and produced the film In Search of Fellini.
Early life[edit]
Nancy Jean Cartwright was born on October 25, 1957,[3] in Dayton, Ohio,[4] Frank and Miriam Cartwright's fourth of six children.[5][6] She grew up in Kettering, Ohio,[7] and discovered her talent for voices at an early age. While in the fourth grade at the school of St. Charles Borromeo, she won a school-wide speech competition with her performance of Rudyard Kipling's How the Camel Got His Hump.[8] Cartwright attended Fairmont West High School, and participated in the school's theater and marching band. She regularly entered public speaking competitions, placing first in the "Humorous Interpretation" category at the National District Tournament two years running. The judges often suggested to her that she should perform cartoon voices. Cartwright graduated from high school in 1976 and accepted a scholarship from Ohio University.[9] She continued to compete in public speaking competitions; during her sophomore year, she placed fifth in the National Speech Tournament's exposition category with her speech "The Art of Animation".[10]
In 1976, Cartwright landed a part-time job doing voice-overs for commercials on WING radio in Dayton.[7] A representative from Warner Bros. Records visited WING and later sent Cartwright a list of contacts in the animation industry.[11] One of these was Daws Butler, known for voicing characters such as Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Elroy Jetson, Spike the Bulldog, and Yogi Bear. Cartwright called him and left a message in a Cockney accent on his answering machine.[8] Butler immediately called her back and agreed to be her mentor. He mailed her a script and instructed her to send him a tape recording of herself reading it. Once he received the tape, Butler critiqued it and sent her notes. For the next year, they continued in this way, completing a new script every few weeks. Cartwright described Butler as "absolutely amazing, always encouraging, always polite".[12]
Cartwright returned to Ohio University for her sophomore year, but transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) so she could be closer to Hollywood and Butler.[7] Her mother, Miriam, died late in the summer of 1978.[13] Cartwright nearly changed her relocation plans but, on September 17, 1978, "joylessly" left for Westwood, Los Angeles.[14]
Personal life[edit]
Cartwright met Warren Murphy, 24 years her senior, on her birthday in 1988 and married him two months later.[73] In her book, she describes Murphy as her "personal laugh track".[74] The couple had two children, Lucy and Jack, before divorcing in 2002.[8][75][76]
Cartwright was raised a Roman Catholic[77] but joined the Church of Scientology in 1991.[78] She was awarded Scientology's Patron Laureate Award after donating $10,000,000, almost twice her annual salary, to the Church in 2007.[79][80]
Cartwright is a contributor to ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Archive Project.[58] In September 2007, Cartwright received the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Wish Icon Award "for her tremendous dedication to the Foundation's fundraising and wish-fulfillment efforts."[81] In 2005, Cartwright created a scholarship at Fairmont High School "designed to aid Fairmont [graduates] who dream of following in her footsteps and studying speech, debate, drama or music" at Ohio University.[82] In 2005, Cartwright was given the title of Honorary Mayor of Northridge, California (a neighborhood of Los Angeles) by the Northridge Chamber of Commerce.[83]
In 2007, Cartwright was in a romantic relationship with contractor Stephen Brackett,[84] a fellow member of Scientology.[85] In early 2008, the couple had made plans to marry,[20][85] but Brackett died in May 2009, after he "apparently leaped" off the Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur, California.[86]
In 2012, Cartwright received an honorary doctorate degree in communication from Ohio University, where she was a student from 1976 to 1977 before transferring to UCLA.[87]
Cartwright is also a painter, sculptor and philanthropist. She co-founded the Know More About Drugs alliance.[88]
