The Simpsons Actors You Forgot Passed Away
A psychedelic coyote, the world's worst lawyer, and a legendary teacher. The voices behind these classic "Simpsons" characters may have left Springfield, but they will never leave our hearts.
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00:00A psychedelic coyote, the world's worst lawyer, and a legendary teacher — the voices behind
00:07these classic Simpsons characters may have left Springfield, but they will never leave
00:11our hearts.
00:12Marsha Wallace voiced the recurring character Edna Krababel, Bart's sarcastic and eternally
00:17frustrated teacher on The Simpsons for over 170 episodes.
00:22Wallace began her acting career on television in the 1960s and continued working consistently
00:27for over 50 years.
00:29She had a recurring role on The Bob Newhart Show as the secretary, Carol Kester, and reprised
00:33the role on Murphy Brown as a guest spot that earned her an Emmy nomination.
00:38Wallace won an Emmy for her performance as Edna Krababel in 1992 and landed on IGN's
00:43Top 25 Peripheral Characters list at No. 16.
00:46The episode, For Regrettings and Funeral, was dedicated to Wallace after her death.
00:51After her passing, The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly,
00:55I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and
01:00gracious Marsha Wallace.
01:01She was beloved by all at The Simpsons, and we intend to retire her irreplaceable character."
01:07Wallace died at 70 of pneumonia.
01:10Wallace's son, Michael Hawley, told the Los Angeles Times,
01:13The greatest gift she gave me was that you have to love the world and see it through
01:17lenses of humor.
01:18Ha!
01:22Sure do miss that laugh.
01:25Rusty Taylor is best known for lending her voice to Minnie Mouse.
01:28She also voiced other Disney characters, such as Huey, Dewey, and Louie in DuckTales.
01:33Taylor lent her voice to Martin Prince, Sherry, Terry, Uther Zorker, and other characters
01:37in The Simpsons over the course of nearly 200 episodes.
01:41After her passing, Al Jean paid tribute to Taylor on Twitter, saying,
01:45Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Rusty Taylor, a true delight to work with.
01:49Rick Dempsey at Disney said,
01:51She truly was one of the kindest, most gracious, upbeat, and loving people I have ever had
01:57the privilege to work with and to count as a friend.
02:00Taylor's body of work was impressive, but as a voice actor, she could walk down the
02:04street without being recognized, and that's how she liked it.
02:07She once said,
02:08I never wanted to be famous.
02:10The characters I do are famous, and that's fine for me.
02:13As reported by The New York Times, Taylor met Walt Disney at Disneyland as a child and
02:17told him she wanted to work for him someday.
02:19In 1986, she auditioned to be Minnie Mouse and won the role.
02:23Taylor met Wayne Allwine, who voiced Mickey Mouse while recording Totally Minnie in 1988,
02:28and they were married in 1991 until Allwine's death in 2009.
02:32Taylor died at 75 from cancer at her Glendale home in 2019.
02:37Doris Grau became known for her two-packs-a-day, gargle-with-whiskey, gravelly voice, which
02:42she utilized in her role as the memorable Lunch Lady Doris on The Simpsons.
02:47Between season 2 and season 9, Grau voiced Lunch Lady Doris and several other small parts
02:52in 22 episodes.
02:54She also worked on the series as a script advisor before becoming a voice actor.
02:57Lunch Lady Doris, have you got any grease?
03:01Yes, yes we do.
03:02Then grease me up, woman!
03:05Okie dokie.
03:06The Simpsons scriptwriter Michael Price told The A.V. Club that after Grau died in 1995,
03:11Lunch Lady Doris became a voiceless background character out of respect to Grau's memory.
03:15Beyond that, the episode Team Homer was dedicated to Grau after her death.
03:20In addition to her classic voice role as Lunch Lady Doris, Grau also had recurring roles
03:24on Cheers and The Tracey Ullman Show, as well as voicing Doris the makeup lady on The Critic.
03:30Grau died on December 30, 1995, in Los Angeles from respiratory failure.
03:35You might remember Phil Hartman from comedy shows such as NewsRadio and Saturday Night
03:40Live, where his impeccable comedic timing often stole the show.
03:44Hartman made a name for himself as a voice actor, playing multiple characters, including
03:48Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, and Lyle Lanley on The Simpsons.
03:52I moved for a bad court thingy.
03:55You mean a mistrial?
03:56Yeah.
03:57That's why you're the judge and I'm the law-talkin' guy.
04:01Hartman appeared in over 50 episodes between season 2 through season 10, and two of Hartman's
04:06characters made IGN's Top 25 Peripheral Characters list.
04:09As reported by The New York Times, Hartman's career and life were cut short in 1998 when
04:14his wife, Brynn, shot and killed Hartman on the morning of May 28 at their home before
04:18taking her own life.
04:20Friends of the couple said Brynn had a history of addiction, but no one understood what could
04:23have happened that morning.
04:25The Los Angeles Times reports that Hartman took an interest in drama as a young man but
04:29studied graphic design in college.
04:31His love of stand-up comedy brought him to acting, and he even broke into writing as
04:35he co-wrote Pee-Wee's Big Adventure with his friend Paul Rubens.
04:38According to Collider, following his tragic murder, Hartman's characters on The Simpsons
04:42were retired out of respect for the comedian.
04:45The episode, Bart the Mother, was dedicated to Hartman.
04:48Jackie Mason was a stand-up comedian known for his observational humor, thick accent,
04:53and his roles in The Jerk and Caddyshack 2.
04:55Mason voiced Hyman Krustofsky, a rabbi who doesn't approve of his son, Krusty the Clown,
05:00in multiple episodes of The Simpsons.
05:03Mason won an Emmy for his performance as the character.
05:06I have no son!
05:09Oh, great, we came all this way and it's the wrong guy.
05:12I didn't mean that literally!
05:14According to The New York Times, Mason came from a long line of rabbis and, like his brothers,
05:19went into the family profession and became a rabbi himself.
05:23He didn't enjoy being a rabbi, but felt pressured to follow in his father's footsteps.
05:27To save himself from misery, he spent summers writing and performing comedy in the Catskills.
05:32When his father died, Mason changed his name and left his position as a rabbi to pursue
05:37a career as a comic.
05:39Appearances on The Steve Allen Show launched his career, but it didn't take long for Mason
05:42to get a reputation for being crass, unpredictable, and politically incorrect.
05:47His career suffered, but his one-man show, The World According to Me, cemented his career
05:52as a stand-up comedy legend.
05:55Mason died in July 2021.
05:57Ron Taylor voiced Bleeding Gums Murphy in the season one episode, Moaning Lisa, where
06:02the jazz saxophonist became Lisa Simpson's mentor, teaching her how to express her emotions
06:07through music.
06:08Taylor voiced the character again in Round Springfield, where Murphy passes away in the
06:12hospital where Bart is also a patient.
06:15The episode Sweets and Sour Marge was dedicated to Taylor after his death, and the character
06:19was temporarily retired before being recast.
06:23Bleeding Gums Murphy made number 32 on Paste's The 100 Greatest Simpsons Guest Stars list.
06:29As reported by The New York Times, Taylor found his place in musical theater and began
06:33working as a singer after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
06:38In 1977, Taylor played the cowardly lion in The Wiz.
06:41However, Taylor might be best known for voicing Audrey II, the carnivorous plant in the Broadway
06:46play Little Shop of Horrors.
06:48In the 90s, Taylor co-wrote, produced, and performed in the Tony-nominated musical It
06:54Ain't Nothin' But The Blues.
06:55Sadly, Taylor died of heart failure at 49 in 2002.
07:00Before his death, Taylor told The New York Times,
07:02"...no matter where you're from, no matter your culture, you can get the blues."
07:06This pretty much sums up what Bleeding Gums Murphy taught Lisa in The Simpsons.
07:10"...but I don't feel any better."
07:12"'The Blues' isn't about feeling better.
07:15It's about making other people feel worse and making a few bucks while you're at it."
07:19Jan Hooks was probably best known for her stint on Saturday Night Live.
07:24She joined the cast the same year as fellow The Simpsons alum Phil Hartman, where she
07:28showcased her many memorable impersonations.
07:30Hooks joined the cast of Designing Women in 1991, bringing her native Georgia accent to
07:35the Atlanta set series.
07:37In 1998, she received an Emmy nomination for her guest role as Vicky on 3rd Rock from the Sun.
07:42Starting in season 9, Hooks brought her impeccable comedic timing and talent for inhabiting bizarre
07:48personalities to the Simpsons series when she voiced Majula Nahasipimapetilon, Apu's
07:52wife, for six episodes.
07:54Critic Anne Hornaday, who was friends with Hooks, told Grantland that Hooks was ambivalent
07:59about fame.
08:00In the late 90s, she bought a farmhouse in upstate New York and rarely worked.
08:04Hooks was treated for cancer in 2009 and went into remission.
08:08Sadly, she found a lump on her throat shortly before she died in 2014 at the age of 57.
08:13Johnny Cash, the legendary country singer known for his baritone, black clothing, and
08:19eternal love for his wife, lent his voice to The Simpsons as the Space Coyote in El
08:24Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer, during which Homer hallucinates after eating several
08:30insanity peppers at the local chili cook-off.
08:32It's one of the trippiest episodes of the animated series and made Time's list of the
08:3710 most memorable episodes of The Simpsons.
08:41Cash's performance was widely praised, landing him on Collider's 10 Best Celebrity Guest
08:46Stars list, No. 14 on IGN's Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances, and No. 21 on Paste's Top
08:53100 Greatest Simpsons Guest Stars list.
08:55"'The mind is always chattering away, with a thousand thoughts at once."
09:00"'Yeah, that's me, all right.'"
09:05Cash was a country music staple, finding popularity with every new generation and going
09:10down in history as a rock pioneer.
09:12Cash won several Grammys during his music career and was inducted into the Country Music
09:17Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
09:21Cash died in Nashville of complications from diabetes at 71.
09:26Acting legend Kurt Douglas lent his voice to The Simpsons when he played Chester Lampwick
09:30in the Season 7 episode, The Day the Violence Died.
09:33The episode explored Lampwick's claims that he created Itchy & Scratchy and should make
09:38money off the rights of the characters Lisa and Bart enjoy watching.
09:42Douglas landed No. 92 on Paste's Top 100 Greatest Simpsons Guest Stars list for his performance
09:47in the episode.
09:49Douglas began his film career during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
09:53Douglas was probably best known for his role in Spartacus and for playing Vincent Van Gogh
09:58in Lust for Life.
09:59Douglas was an Oscar nominee, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, film producer,
10:04novelist, and philanthropist.
10:06The cinematic legend died in his Beverly Hills home at the age of 103.
10:12Stephen Hawking was best known for being a theoretical physicist who changed the way
10:16people look at the universe.
10:18The Simpsons fans know he voiced himself in four episodes.
10:21He has a large role in the episode, They Saved Lisa's Brain, when Lisa is invited to join
10:26Springfield's Mensa chapter.
10:28Hawking landed at No. 16 on IGN's Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances list, and he secured
10:34No. 27 on Paste's list of the show's Top 100 Greatest Guest Stars.
10:39According to Hawking, he guest starred in the animated series because his daughter Lucy
10:43knew one scriptwriter on the series, and they wanted to write an episode featuring him.
10:47Hawking said,
10:48"...I accepted immediately because it would be fun, and because The Simpsons is the best
10:53thing on American television."
10:55After his death, Matt Selman, who wrote Hawking's parts for The Simpsons, told the BBC,
10:59"...when he was in L.A. he would just come to table reads and enjoy them as a fan."
11:04The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean told The Hollywood Reporter,
11:07"...he popularized science for people who may not have been interested in it, and that
11:11is something we have tried to do on The Simpsons — put science and math inside the show."
11:16"...sometimes the smartest of us can be the most childish."
11:20"...Even you?"
11:21"...No.
11:22Not me.
11:23Never."
11:25Latin jazz legend Tito Puente appeared as himself in Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 1 and Who
11:30Shot Mr. Burns Part 2, leaving an impression on fans of The Simpsons with his Emmy-nominated
11:35song Senor Burns.
11:37In the arc, Puente writes and performs a revenge song about how much everyone hates Mr. Burns
11:43in Springfield.
11:44The song says,
11:45"...it may not surprise you, but all of us despise you.
11:48Please die and fry in hell, you rotten, rich old wretch.
11:53Adios, viejo."
11:55Like Hawking, Puente made an appearance on both IGN and Pace lists of the greatest guest
11:59appearances on The Simpsons.
12:00The New York Times called Puente,
12:02"...the most important Latin musician of the last half-century, and a key figure in the
12:06fusion of Latin music with jazz."
12:09Puente was known for his high energy, big smile, and enthusiasm for performing with
12:13his Latin jazz orchestra.
12:15Puente died of complications from open-heart surgery at New York University Medical Center.
12:20Leonard Nimoy appeared as himself twice on The Simpsons.
12:23His appearance in the season 4 episode, Marge vs. the Monorail, landed him at number 5 on
12:28Pace's Top 100 Greatest Simpsons Guest Stars list.
12:32Nimoy was also celebrated in IGN's Top 25 Guest Appearances list for his narration of
12:37The Springfield Files, when Mulder and Scully from The X-Files pay a visit to Springfield
12:41in season 8.
12:43As reported by The New York Times, Nimoy took part in community theater from a young age
12:47and moved to Hollywood to pursue acting in 1949.
12:51Nimoy landed small parts on television and in films throughout the 50s and 60s, and did
12:55a stint in the Army before his big break came.
12:58Although Nimoy will always be the sci-fi icon Spock to Star Trek fans who enjoyed his performances
13:03in the original television series, Nimoy had other artistic interests.
13:08Nimoy was a published memoirist, poet, and photographer, as well as an accomplished director
13:13and producer.
13:15Nimoy died at 83 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.