Marcia Wallace (Mrs. Krabappel of The Simpsons), Dead at 70

Marcia Wallace, from source, Chicago Tribune

Sad. Just the other day, The Other Half and I were discussing what would happen when the original voices from The Simpsons started passing away. And oddly enough, our discussion was prompted by the news that a major character would be "killed off" this season. Internet speculation had focused on Marcia Wallace's character, Mrs. Edna Krabappel, Bart's long-suffering teacher. Which makes me wonder if Wallace--a cancer survivor since the 80s--either knew she was dying, or wished to retire, and that The Simpsons was accommodating her.

In any event, she is one more element of my childhood, pop culture savant that I am, to disappear. She was the funniest part, to a kid, of The Bob Newhart Show, and was also quite funny on all of her game show and talk show appearances in the 70s. Of course, she's been with The Simpsons since it started, though apparently not in the Tracey Ullman short clips (which debuted on my 21st birthday!). Her Krabappel (crab apple) character was the focus of many episodes, and has historically had some of the funniest lines. She'll definitely be missed by a whole lot of fans.

Mrs. Krabappel, from FOX TV

The Simpsons is now in its 25th season, 28th if you count the Ullman clips. I wonder how much longer it can go before we lose another major voice. Unlike Wallace, who voiced one character, it would be vastly more difficult to write out or kill off most of them. Undoubtedly, The Simpsons will outlive all of its original voices. 20th Century Fox is unlikely to mothball the characters forever. A revival or reboot is inevitable. But it would never be the same. And The Simpsons is going to be different for having lost Marcia Wallace.

[Excerpt]

'Simpsons' star Marcia Wallace dies at 70

Marcia Wallace, the star of "The Bob Newhart Show" and "œThe Simpsons," died Friday at the age of 70 from complications related to breast cancer, according to several media reports. . .

Read more at: Chicago Tribune

 

Suzanne Pleshette Dies

Photo from source, AP

Sad, sad, sad. Loved her in everything I ever saw her in. She was even good in the otherwise pretty bad Good Morning, Miami. And she was the best punchline to the world's longest joke--the entire series run of Newhart.

[Excerpt]

Suzanne Pleshette Dies in Los Angeles

Suzanne Pleshette, the husky-voiced star best known for her role as Bob Newhart's sardonic wife on television's long-running "The Bob Newhart Show," has died at age 70.

Pleshette, whose career included roles in such films as Hitchcock's "The Birds" and in Broadway plays including "The Miracle Worker," died of respiratory failure Saturday evening at her Los Angeles home, said her attorney Robert Finkelstein, also a family friend.

Pleshette underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer in 2006.

Read more at: Associated Press