Marcia Wallace, Voice Of Simpsons’ Mrs. Krabappel, Dies At Age 70

Numerous sites, including the AV Club, have reported that actress and longtime guest voice of Mrs. Krabappel on The Simpsons has passed away from complications due to breast cancer. She was 70 years old.

Her big break into the mainstage of Hollywood television was playing Carol Kester, the receptionist on The Bob Newhart Show all the way back in 1972. She starred in all but 3 of the 142 episodes ever produced in that show. She was able to obtain this role in no short part due to Merv Griffin and the Merv Griffin show, in which she was a semi-regular. When the show moved to California, she followed by the request of the talk show host, himself. Despite her success on both programs, she didn’t pick up scripted work for a long time, often appearing on game shows as a panelist.

It wasn’t until she appeared on The Simpsons as Edna Krabappel in which she finally made her home on network television once again in 1990. She appeared in over a hundred episode of the popular animated show, which in turn she lent her voice into several Simpsons-themed video games. Those include, “The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield,” “The Simpsons: Road Rage,” and “The Simpsons Game.”

Even though she has passed away today, her voice and laughter will carry on.