Formative Performances: The Women of “The Simpsons”

[Women’s History Month, Day 31]

It’s the last day of Women’s History Month, and you didn’t really think I’d spend 31 days talking about television without once mentioning the voice actresses on The Simpsons, did you? The Simpsons is my favorite thing, and while no one actress on the show performs as many voices as Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, or Harry Shearer, the show wouldn’t be what it was without this group of talented women playing some key parts.

There’s Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma Bouvier, bringing a dorky humanity to our favorite homemaker and her oft-mocked weird sisters.

There’s Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson, our favorite little scholar, activist, bookworm, and jazz musician, the inspiration to little girls everywhere.

There’s Nancy Cartwright as a host of little boy characters, most notably Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, and our favorite hellion of all, Bart Simpson, proving anyone wrong who might say, “You can’t play that part. It’s for a BOY.”

There’s Marcia Wallace as Mrs. Krabappel, Bart’s long-suffering and perpetually sexually unsatisfied teacher.

There’s Maggie Roswell as Maude Flanders and Helen Lovejoy, coiner of the now-infamous “Won’t somebody please think of the children?!”

There’s the late Doris Grau as Lunchlady Doris, the perpetually unflappable cafeteria worker.

There’s Russi Taylor as the nerds at Springfield Elementary, most notably Martin Prince, the nerdiest of them all.

There’s Tress MacNeille as Lindsay Naegle and Agnes Skinner, Seymour’s always dissatisfied mother. “It means lamb! Lamb of God!”

And last, but not least, we have Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Bart’s best friend, Lisa’s admirer, Nelson’s punching bag, and the most joyous beaten-down nerd in the world.

To the women of The Simpsons, I say, “Thank you all for voicing these women, girls, and boys, and providing me with decades of entertainment.”