On Wednesday, the world was shocked to hear that someone from The Simpsons was retiring as a voice character after 35 years.
Pamela Hayden’s last episode as Milhouse, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Chief Wiggum’s wife Sarah, and Lisa’s friend Janey Powell airs today on Fox.
The big question is why she would give up such an amazing job; Variety spoke to her and found out why. “How many actors can say they’ve worked on a show for 35 years straight?” Hayden said. “That alone is amazing. But it was time for me to devote my time to other creative endeavors that I have, like filmmaking. It was a tough decision, but I feel like it was the right one.”
One of her debut works as a filmmaker hit the film festival circuit this year. Jailhouse to Milhouse tells her story about her tough upbringing, but it didn’t let it stop her from becoming the voice of so many iconic characters. She is also working on a musical that she is hoping will make its way to Broadway.
Until then, don’t be afraid to approach her because she loves her fans.
Even though she has moved on, her characters will not. The Simpsons will start casting her replacement soon.
I knew that the Pope and Supreme Court Justices could retire from their jobs for life. But I thought the only way you could leave The Simpsons was to die like the late actors Marcia Wallace, Jackie Mason, and Phil Hartman. But that is not the case.
Today, Fox announced that Pamela Hayden, who voices Milhouse Van Houten, is retiring from the series after 35 years.
“The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons?……not easily. It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show, and to give voice to Milhouse (and Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey, Malibu Stacy, and many others),” she said.
Her last appearance airs this Sunday, which is the annual Treehouse of Horror episode.
While she is no longer part of The Simpsons, her characters will live on. The producers will begin casting in the near future.
Before Hank Azaria was Chief Wiggum on The Simpsons, he was a beat cop in Pretty Woman. He looks the same now as he did when he was 23 in that 1990 movie.
Watch that interview to see why his family was mad at him over that movie.
Did you know that Hank Azaria is in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called The EZ Street Band? No one did, So he came up with a creative way to get people to get the word out.
The man of a thousand voices put those voices to work, and he is on fire. In other words, he had his Simpsons characters sing The Boss’ first huge hit. So now we know what Moe Szyslak, Comoic Book Guy, Snake, Professor Frink, Sea Captain, Cletus, Duffman, and Chief Wiggum sound like when they sing Born to Run.
There was one more voice he did, and that voice was Bruce himself. Because if you are going to have a tribute band dedicated to the artist, you might as well sing like them.
If you want to hear Hank Springsteen sing, he will be doing two shows in Bruce’s old haunts, including at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
