Want to feel old? The voice of Bart Simpson turned 65 today, October 25.
Nancy Cartwright shot to fame as the bratty spiky-haired son in animated comedy The Simpsons, the series about a dysfunctional US family.
The talented voice actress didn’t stop there with her talents.
She also voiced schoolboy bully Nelson Muntz in the series, along with the chief of police’s son Ralph Wiggum and Bart’s sister, the dummy-sucking baby Maggie Simpson.
It wasn’t only The Simpsons she appeared on either. Since 2001, Cartwright has lent her talents to The Rugrats, voicing the part of main character Chuckie Finster.
Tell most career advisers you want to be a voiceover artist, and they are unlikely to predict you could become one of the best paid people in all of Hollywood.
But that is exactly what Cartwright achieved, pocketing a six-figure cheque per episode of The Simpsons at the height of the yellow-animated family’s fame.
How much was Nancy Cartwright paid to voice Bart Simpson?
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
At one point, Nancy Cartwright was paid an astonishing $400,000 (£348,000) per episode of The Simpsons that she performed, delivering Bart’s famous catchphrases such as “Eat my shorts” and “Ay, caramba!”.
The Simpsons was granted its own half-hour slot on the Fox TV network in 1989, having been a success in the form of animated short segments on the sketch comedy programme, The Tracey Ullman Show.
It is said that Cartwright secured a fee of $30,000 (£26,000) per episode until 1998 following the Fox commission.
That year, the six main voice actors were threatened to be sacked by Fox in a row over pay but, with the issue later solved, Cartwright signed a deal earning her four times as much.
Until 2004, she was given $125,000 (£109,000) per episode before another pay wrangle saw the salary doubled again.
The main voice actor salaries were re-negotiated in 2008, with the stars behind the mics receiving an eye-watering approximate per episode wage of $400,000.
Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Cartwright and the other cast members accepted a 25% pay cut, down to a still-considerable $300,000 (£260,000) per episode.
Scientology donations
(Image: GETTY / FOX)
With all that money, stars need somewhere to invest it — and the voice of Bart Simpson has chosen the Church of Scientology.
More than a decade ago, Cartwright — who was raised a Roman Catholic — was awarded Scientology’s Patron Laureate Award after reportedly donating $10 million (£.8.7m) to the organisation.
The controversial belief system was founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, the science-fiction writer.
According to a report in The Times in 2009, Cartwright was then classed as an Operating Thetan VII — an individual who can operate independently of her body, according to the movement’s website — meaning she had attained the second-highest rank in the Church.
Critics accuse the Church of Scientology — which membership has previously been known to include the likes of Tom Cruise and John Travolta — of being secretive, profit-motivated and cult-like.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
