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Nancy Cartwright has voiced Bart Simpson since those 30-second 'toon bumper bits on The Tracey Ullman Show jumpstarted the whole Simpsons phenomenon in 1987. Now The Simpsons is TV's longest-running comedy at 15 seasons and counting and nearly 350 episodes.
The cartoon career has made Cartwright and her colleagues -- Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Hank Azaria (Moe, Apu and others), Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns and others) and Yeardley Smith (Lisa) -- rich but hardly famous. Despite giving voice to TV's No. 1 brat for a decade and a half, she can still walk down any street in North America in virtual anonymity.
"Cool!" she says over the phone with just a hint of that familiar Bart cackle. The 44-year-old, blond-haired Californian doesn't look anything like her yellow, spikey-headed alter ago, of course, which suits her just fine.
"The anonymity factor is the ace in the hole for me," she says, "although I've been blowing it lately."
In fact, Cartwright has exploded into her own one-woman industry, with a best-selling biography and audio book (My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy), a Web site (nancycartwright.
com) and a speaking tour that sold out 23 shows recently in Edinburgh, Scotland.
On Oct. 16, she brings her one-woman show to Toronto's John Bassett Theatre in the Metro Convention Centre for two shows (tickets are available at ticketmaster.ca).
"This is where I finally get to be the celebrity, at least for a day in Toronto," Cartwright says.
Not bad for a kid from Dayton, Ohio, who says she knew at the age of 10 -- Bart's age -- that she wanted to make a living doing cartoon voices.
As Cartwright tells in her book and her shows, an early hero was Don Messick, who provided the voice for many Hanna-Barbera characters (including Scooby-Doo and Bamm-Bamm on The Flintstones).
Her favorite Messick voice was Elroy on The Jetsons and there's more than a hint of that space punk in Bart.
Cartwright the fan began writing Messick and eventually struck up a friendship. He invited her out to California and mentored her through the voice work audition process, helping her establish her career. "He was amazing and couldn't have been more generous," she says. (Messick died in 1997).
Cartwright landed parts on shows like My Little Pony And Friends, Galaxy High and The Snorks. By the time Fox started casting for those early Simpsons shorts, she was ready. And though she was there to read for Lisa, Bart's brainy sister, she knew mischievous Bart was a better fit. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," she says.
When stars like Liz Taylor, Tom Jones or Mel Gibson are brought in for Simpsons cameos, Cartwright is still as starstruck as the next person. An early episode featuring Dustin Hoffman as Lisa's supply teacher (he was credited as Sam Etic) is a favourite of hers, as are any of the singing episodes, especially the Mary Poppins spoof Sherry Bobbins.
One report estimates that Cartwright and her Simpsons colleagues make $360,000 US an episode, or $8 million for a 22-episode season. Ay carumba!
Not bad for four hours' work, which is what Cartwright says the cast has it down to per week. Unlike a lot of TV cartoon voice work, The Simpsons' cast record their scripts together, much like an old radio show. Seeing them perform a table read live, as I did a couple of press tours ago, is very cool. The actors become, well, animated. The spit literally flies as Castellaneta throws himself into each "D'oh!"
Still, breaking into the salary big leagues has its downside. Simpsons creator Matt Groening once quipped that voice-over actors have as much right as others in Hollywood to have their lives ruined by money.
Cartwright, a mother of two, says her life couldn't be better. If some people are jealous she hit the cartoon jackpot, they can eat her shorts. You can't please everyone, she says, and if others are inspired, cool.
Her Toronto appearance is part of a Simpsons fan extravaganza weekend sponsored by Toronto cel gallery Animation Connection. Simpsons director David Silverman will also be on hand at the Metro Toronto Convention centre (see SimpsonsMania.com for more information). Hundreds of animation cels and other art will be available.
Cartwright has several Simpsons cels on her own walls as well as other animated classics, including a Jiminy Cricket cel from the Disney classic Pinocchio.
Currently recording scripts into the 16th and 17th seasons, Cartwright hopes to keep speaking for Bart for another decade. "My personal goal is to do 26 years," she says.
Maybe by then she'll be as famous as Bart.