Nancy Cartwright facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nancy Cartwright
Cartwright in 2019
Born	Nancy Jean Cartwright (1957-10-25) October 25, 1957 (age 67) Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	Ohio University University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1980–present
Known for	Rugrats The Simpsons
Spouse(s)	Warren Murphy ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 2002)​
Children	2
Relatives	Sabrina Carpenter (niece)

Nancy Jean Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress. She is famous for using her voice to bring many cartoon characters to life!

Nancy is best known as the voice of Bart Simpson on the long-running TV show The Simpsons. She has won awards for this role, like a Primetime Emmy Award and an Annie Award. She also voices other characters on The Simpsons, including Maggie Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, and Nelson Muntz. You might also know her as the voice of Chuckie Finster from the Nickelodeon series Rugrats and All Grown Up!.

Nancy's Early Life

Nancy Cartwright was born in Dayton, Ohio. She was the fourth of six children. Growing up in Kettering, Ohio, she found her talent for making different voices very early. In fourth grade, she won a school speech contest. She performed a story from Rudyard Kipling's How the Camel Got His Hump.

Nancy went to Fairmont West High School. She was active in theater and the marching band. She often entered public speaking contests. Judges often told her she should try doing cartoon voices. After high school, Nancy got a scholarship to Ohio University.

In 1976, Nancy started a part-time job doing voices for radio commercials. A person from Warner Bros. Records gave her a list of contacts in the animation world. One important contact was Daws Butler. He was famous for voicing characters like Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. Nancy called him and left a message using a funny voice. Butler called her back right away and agreed to teach her. They worked together for a year, with Butler sending her scripts and notes. Nancy said Butler was "absolutely amazing" and always supportive.

Nancy later moved to Westwood, Los Angeles to be closer to Hollywood and Daws Butler. She transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Starting Her Career

Daws Butler was Cartwright's mentor and helped her become a voice actress.

While studying at UCLA, Nancy kept learning voice acting from Daws Butler. She visited his house every Sunday for lessons. Butler introduced her to many voice actors and directors at Hanna-Barbera, a famous animation studio.

She got her first professional voice role as Gloria in the cartoon Richie Rich. Later, she got a main role in the TV movie Marian Rose White (1982). Her first movie role was in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). In this movie, she played a girl who gets stuck in a cartoon world.

Nancy also did voice work for many other cartoons. These included Pound Puppies, Popeye and Son, Snorks, and My Little Pony. She also did "loop group" work. This means she recorded voices for background characters in movies.

In 1985, she tried out for a guest role in the TV show Cheers. She got the part by doing something unexpected during her audition. Nancy also took acting classes to improve her skills. Her teacher suggested she watch the Italian film La Strada. This inspired her to write a one-woman play called In Search of Fellini. She later turned this play into a movie in 2017.

Voicing The Simpsons

Cartwright in 2007

Nancy Cartwright is the voice of Bart Simpson on the popular animated TV show The Simpsons. In 1987, she auditioned for a series of short cartoons. These cartoons were about a family and would appear on The Tracey Ullman Show.

Nancy first planned to try out for Lisa Simpson, the older daughter. But when she arrived, she found Bart's character more interesting. Bart was described as "devious, underachieving, school-hating, irreverent, [and] clever." The show's creator, Matt Groening, let her try out for Bart. He gave her the job right away! Bart's voice came easily to Nancy. She had used parts of it in other cartoons before.

In 1989, these shorts became a full TV show called The Simpsons. Bart quickly became a huge star. His popularity in the early 1990s was even called "Bartmania." Despite Bart's fame, Nancy remained mostly unknown. This was because the studio didn't want people to know that Bart was voiced by a woman. Nancy loves her job because she can be a celebrity without being recognized everywhere.

Nancy also voices several other characters on The Simpsons. These include Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, and others. She created Nelson's voice on the spot for his first episode. Todd Flanders' voice is based on a character from another cartoon called Peabody's Improbable History.

Nancy won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992 for her work as Bart. She also won an Annie Award in 1995. Bart was even named one of the "100 most important people of the 20th century" by Time magazine. In 2000, Bart and the rest of the Simpson family got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Other Voice Roles

Besides The Simpsons, Nancy Cartwright has voiced many other cartoon characters. She is the voice of Chuckie Finster in Rugrats and All Grown Up!. She also voices Rufus the naked mole-rat in Kim Possible. For Rufus, Nancy learned a lot about real mole-rats! She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on Kim Possible.

Nancy says Rufus and Chuckie are her two most challenging voices. Rufus's voice requires a lot of diaphragm work, and Chuckie's voice is like five personalities in one! She has also voiced characters in shows like Animaniacs, The Critic, and The Replacements.

Nancy has also appeared on camera in TV shows and movies. These include Fame, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and 24.

In 2000, Nancy wrote a book about her life called My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy. The book shares stories about her career and what it's like behind the scenes of The Simpsons. She later turned this book into a one-woman play in 2004.

Nancy also has an interest in stock car racing. In 2001, she started a production company called SportsBlast. She created an online cartoon series called The Kellys, which is about racing.

In 2016, Nancy started her own film and TV company, Spotted Cow Entertainment. With this company, she wrote and produced her first movie, In Search of Fellini. This film came out in 2017 and was based on her own trip to Italy to meet director Federico Fellini.

Nancy's Personal Life

Nancy Cartwright married real-estate agent Warren Murphy in 1988. They had two children, Lucy and Jack, before they divorced in 2002.

Nancy was raised Catholic but joined the Church of Scientology in 1991. She has supported the Church's activities.

Nancy helps with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2007, she received an award for her work with the foundation. In 2005, she created a scholarship at Fairmont High School. This scholarship helps students who want to study speech, drama, or music at Ohio University. She also received an honorary doctorate degree from Ohio University in 2012.

Nancy is also a painter, sculptor, and helps many charities. In 2024, she shared that pop singer Sabrina Carpenter is her niece.

Filmography

Live-action

Film

Television

Voice roles

Film

Animation

Video games

Music videos

Theme parks

Web series

Producer

Other credits

Awards

See also

In Spanish: Nancy Cartwright (actriz) para niños