How Bart Simpson was influenced by World War II veterans

Nancy Cartwright is an award-winning and world-renowned voice-over artist in TV and film. She is most known for her portrayal of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons, which has aired over 750+ episodes, and her work as Chuckie Finster in Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up from 2002 onward. The shows she has worked on have received dozens of awards for their artistic and technical merits and the films have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. Before her leap into voice-over stardom, Cartwright was mentored by two voice-over legends, both of whom were World War II veterans.

Cartwright comes from a humble beginning in Dayton, Ohio, and she recognized her voice abilities at an early age. She went to Ohio University on a scholarship and worked part-time at a local Dayton radio station, WING, for some time. While at WING, a Warner Bros. Record representative visited the station and linked Cartwright with members of the animation industry. One key member was Daws Butler, the voice of many Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Elroy Jetson, and others, such as Chilly Willy and Snap, Crackle and Pop of the Rice Krispies. He voiced cartoon commercials such as Cap’n Crunch from the 1960s to the 1980s. He also briefly subbed for Mel Blanc as Barney Rubble on The Flintstones. Shows he voiced included The Bugs Bunny Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, The Yogi Bear Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Bullwinkle Show, Sesame Street and films include Mary Poppins, The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones and Yogi’s Great Escape. Butler served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he met his wife.

Cartwright transferred to UCLA in her sophomore year to be able to train and learn from Butler in Hollywood. She suffered a tragic personal loss with the death of her mother that same year in 1978. While in L.A., she trained with Butler. She told the Edinburgh Evening News, “Every Sunday I’d take a 20-minute bus ride to his in Beverly Hills for a one-hour lesson and be there for four hours…They had four sons, they didn’t have a daughter and I kind of fit in as the baby of the family.” She was introduced to the movers and shakers at Hanna-Barbera and was offered a job by one of them on the new cartoon Richie Rich. She got more breaks in the industry and graduated from UCLA in 1981.

Cartwright was also mentored by Marine Corps World War II Veteran Jonathan Winters, a well-known comedian, actor and voice-over artist. Winters, also a Dayton, Ohio, native who struggled at fitting in throughout his youth joined the Marine Corps at 17 years old and served two and a half years during World War II in the Pacific. He studied cartooning at the Dayton Art Institute and studied at Kenyon College. Winters, known for his comedy, found success in voice work in such projects as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, I Go Pogo, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, The Smurfs animated series, Tiny Toon Adventures and The Smurfs animated films. He inspired many comedians such as Robin Williams, who Winters also mentored, Tracey Ullman, Jimmy Kimmel, Liley Tomlin, Jim Carrey and even Johnny Carson. Winters mentored Cartwright during the summer after she graduated from UCLA at Kenyon College in an improvisation group, for which Winters was globally acclaimed.

Post her studies with two legends, Cartwright was cast in a TV movie, Marian Rose White, which won critical acclaim and played in Twilight Zone: The Movie, in the role of a girl who gets trapped in a cartoon world. The director of the segment, Joe Dante was impressed and thrilled at her resume, especially having been mentored by Daws Butler. Once Dante saw that part and spoke with Cartwright, he immediately cast her. Cartwright’s career took flight through the 1980s on such shows as Pound Puppies, Popeye and Son, Snorks, My Little Pony and on-camera guest star spot on Cheers. She also did minor voice-over work for such 80s hits as Sixteen Candles, Back to the Future Part II and The Color Purple.

In the late 1980s, she appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show in her legendary role of Bart Simpson. She was initially set to audition for the role of Lisa Simpson but passed based upon the character description. Cartwright tried out as Bart and creator Matt Groening immediately gave her the role. She was the only cast member of the show to be professionally trained in voice acting. The shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show were turned into a half-hour animated comedy show on the newly formed Fox Network known as The Simpsons. She became the most notable character on the show and was a near-instant media star. Her character spawned the early 90s sensation Bartmania although Cartwright herself remained in the shadows as the studio wanted it to be kept quiet that a woman voiced Bart. She voices other characters on the show such as Nelson, Ralph, Todd Flanders and Kearney. Over time she and her fellow cast members have become the most well-paid voice-over actors in history, earning $300,000 an episode.

Her career continues on the show to this day and she worked on further projects throughout the 1990s to present. Such titles include The Critic, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Godzilla and 24. She has written about her experiences on The Simpsons with My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy, which was adapted into a one-woman stage play and she enjoys stock car racing. She was married to Warren Murphy, a screenwriter for Lethal Weapon 2 and The Eiger Sanction and a Korean War veteran. When not doing Bart, she enjoys painting, sculpting and philanthropy. Cartwright has had an interesting life positively influenced by two of the members of The Greatest Generation.