Julie Kavner
For more than a decade, comedic actress Julie Kavner has voiced one of television’s most popular animated characters—Marge Simpson on The Simpsons.
Synopsis
Julie Kavner was born on September 7, 1950, in Los Angeles, California. Only a year after finishing her degree, Kavner had a supporting role on the sitcom Rhoda. After Rhoda, she again showed her comedic talents on The Tracey Ullman Show. It was on this show that she first voiced Marge Simpson. In 1990, The Simpsons became its own show. Julie Kavner has also appeared in several films.
Early Life
Actress Julie Deborah Kavner was born on September 7, 1950, in Los Angeles, California. For more than a decade, Kavner has voiced one of television's most popular animated characters—Marge Simpson on The Simpsons. A graduate of Beverly Hills High School, she studied drama at San Diego State University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1973.
Early Television Career
Only a year after finishing her degree, Kavner had a supporting role on the sitcom Rhoda, starring Valerie Harper as the title character. She played Rhoda's younger, more awkward and less confident sister, Brenda, and imbued the character with an appealing vulnerability as well as great humor. Audiences and critics alike were impressed with her performance; she was nominated for an Emmy Award four times for her work on the series, winning one in 1978.
'The Simpsons'
After Rhoda, Kavner again showed her comedic talents on The Tracey Ullman Show. The sketch comedy and variety program allowed Kavner to play a broad range of characters, and it also earned her three more Emmy Award nominations. It was on this show that she first began her work as the legendary blue-haired mom on The Simpsons, which first appeared as short segments on the show.
In 1990, The Simpsons became its own half-hour program and soon became a hit with audiences. Julie Kavner??s warm, loving and sometimes frustrated role as Marge has spent more than 20 years looking after her family, comprised of her oafish, but sweet husband Homer, troublemaker son Bart, bright and musical daughter Lisa and baby Maggie. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992 as Marge. In addition to Marge, she voices Patty and Selma Bouvier, Marge's older twin sisters.
Film Career
The Simpsons, Kavner has appeared in several films. During the 1980s and '90s, she had supporting roles in a number of films by Woody Allen, including Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Radio Days(1987) and Deconstructing Harry (1997). She also had the lead part in Nora Ephron's This Is My Life (1992), starring as a divorced mother of two struggles to become a successful stand-up comedienne. That same year she starred in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog. Kavner also appeared in the 2006 comedy film Click, alongside Adam Sandler. The following year she starred in The Simpsons Movie, the first feature-length film starring the historic sitcom family.
