Maggie Roswell
Encyclopedia
Maggie Roswell is an American film and television actress and voice artist
from Los Angeles, California
. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series The Simpsons
, in which she has played recurring characters such as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, and Luann Van Houten, as well as several minor characters. This work has earned her both an Emmy Award
nomination and an Annie Award
nomination.
Roswell made her acting break-through in the 1980s with appearances in films such as Midnight Madness (1980), Lost in America
(1985), and Pretty in Pink
(1986), and guest appearances on television shows such as Remington Steele
, Masquerade
, and Happy Days
. She appeared frequently in the sketch comedy The Tim Conway Show from 1980 to 1981, and did voice acting for a few animated films and television shows. Roswell also performed in some theater plays, including one in 1988 directed by Julia Sweeney
.
In 1989, Roswell was hired for the first season
of The Simpsons. She played a few minor characters until she became a regular cast member with the introduction of Maude Flanders in the second season
. In 1994, Roswell and her husband Hal Rayle
moved from Los Angeles to Denver
to raise their daughter. Together they established the Roswell 'n' Rayle Company, creating and voicing advertisements for companies. Because of her move to Denver, Roswell had to travel to Los Angeles twice a week to tape The Simpsons. This ultimately led to her requesting a pay raise in 1999; however, Fox refused to offer her the amount she wanted so she quit the show. Roswell returned to The Simpsons in 2002 after reaching a deal to record her lines from her Denver home.
. After going to Catholic school and Los Angeles City College
, she began a career in acting. In the 1970s she made some guest appearances on television shows such as M*A*S*H, but she did not get her first big acting roles until the 1980s. In the 1980 film Midnight Madness, she played a character that leads a group of sorority sisters who are participating in a college puzzle solving race. Roswell also starred in the sketch comedy The Tim Conway Show in 1980 and 1981. In 1985 she appeared in the film Lost in America
as the character Patty, and she had a supporting role in the 1986 film Pretty in Pink
. She also acted in the two-part television film The Deliberate Stranger
. In addition, Roswell played some minor roles in television shows in the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, including guest appearances on Remington Steele
(1993), Masquerade
(1984), Happy Days
(1984), Murphy Brown
(1993), and Quantum Leap (1993). She was offered a chance to replace Gilda Radner
on Saturday Night Live
, but turned down the offer when her agent told her "the show wasn't going anywhere."
Roswell also did theater. In 1986 she appeared in improvisatory shows directed by Paul Sills
at Lamb's Theatre
, in which the actors were given characters and situations by the audience members. In 1988 she had a role in Julia Sweeney
's play Mea's Big Apology at Groundling Theatre in Los Angeles. She played Eunice, a cynical woman who works at malpractice insurance company and is a colleague to the main character. The company people do everything they can to dismiss her because they do not want to pay her retirement benefits, which are about to take effect. Roswell reprised this role in a 1992 revival of the play, also at Groundling Theatre.
roles, Roswell did some voice acting
in animated films and shows, including the voice of Teegra in Fire and Ice
from 1983. This led to her being hired on the animated television series The Simpsons
in 1989. Her first appearance was in the season one
episode "Homer's Night Out
", in which she voiced the character Princess Kashmir (a belly dancer who seduces Homer
). Out of the total thirteen episodes of the first season, Roswell appeared in four; however, they were only minor roles. Roswell did not become a regular cast member until the middle of the second season in the episode "Dead Putting Society
" (1990), with the introduction of Maude Flanders (neighbor to the Simpson family
and the loving wife of Ned Flanders
). Roswell went on to voice other recurring characters on the show, such as Helen Lovejoy (the reverend's wife), Miss Hoover (an elementary school teacher), and Luann Van Houten (a housewife and mother), as well as several more one-time characters and background characters. Fellow Simpsons cast member Nancy Cartwright
wrote in her autobiography that "Maggie has been blessed with a skill in creating one of the hardest things to create: the 'normal sound,' whatever that is. So she can easily slip into the gal next door or any number of assorted reporters, medical students, jury members, accountants, scientists and moms." Roswell was nominated for an Emmy Award
for her work on The Simpsons. She also received a 1997 Annie Award
nomination in the category "Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting by a Female Performer in a TV Production" for her role as Sharry Bobbins in the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
", but lost to June Foray
.
Roswell met fellow voice actor Hal Rayle
in 1986, and they married in 1987. He had done roles such as Predator
in Predator 2
, the ghoulies in Ghoulies II, and Marvin the Martian
in Air Jordan
commercials. They moved from Los Angeles to Denver, Colorado
, in June 1994 to raise their daughter, who was born in 1993. Between March and November every year, when episodes of The Simpsons were being recorded, Roswell had to fly back to Los Angeles twice a week to attend the table reads and the recording sessions. In an article about her and her husband's move, Ricky Lopes of Rocky Mountain News
wrote: "When The Simpsons is taping, she goes to Los Angeles every Friday morning for the first reading, flies back that afternoon, flies back Sunday to tape the show Monday and flies back home that night." Roswell said she "got the idea for the way Helen Lovejoy says 'B-bye, b-bye, b-bye,' to everybody when they leave the church from the way the flight attendants say it when you get off the plane."
Roswell and Rayle began writing, producing, and/or voicing advertisements together for companies. They established "The Roswell 'n' Rayle Company" for this purpose, and built a recording studio in their basement. In 1994, they did radio advertisements in Denver for Burger King
, Christy Sports, and an insect exhibit at the Museum of Natural History
. The same year, Roswell provided her voice for Campbell's Soup and Pontiac
commercials as part of their business. The company is still active as of 2010. They are now also providing comedic ring tones.
In 1997, Roswell appeared in the film Switchback
alongside Danny Glover
and Dennis Quaid
.
Roswell left The Simpsons in spring 1999 after a pay dispute with Fox Broadcasting Company
, which airs The Simpsons. The dispute was not revealed to the press at first; Fox originally reported that she decided to quit only because she was tired of flying between Denver and Los Angeles for the recording sessions. It was then announced by Roswell that she had asked for a raise, not only because she was tired of the traveling, but because of the increasing cost of flight tickets. Roswell was paid $1,500 to $2,000 per episode during the three seasons before she left, and she asked Fox for a raise to $6,000 per episode. However, Fox only offered her a $150 raise, which did not even cover the travel costs, so she decided to quit. Roswell told The Denver Post
that "they offered me a $150 raise. I mean, that's lint in Fox's pocket. But Fox wanted to prove a point, I guess. I was flying myself back and forth from Denver to L.A. It was exhausting. I loved doing the show and they thought that I would come back. But now I'm busy doing other things." She further added that "I was part of the backbone of The Simpsons and I don't think the money I asked for was exorbitant. I wasn't asking for what other cast members make. I was just trying to recoup all the costs I had in travel. If they'd flown me in, I'd still be working." At that point, the six main cast members of the show were paid $125,000 per episode. As a result of Roswell's departure, the Maude Flanders character was killed off in the episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily
". Voice actress Marcia Mitzman Gaven
was hired to fill in for Roswell's other characters.
, in which Maude made an appearance as a ghost. She reached a deal with Fox to record her lines from her Denver home and thus the dispute ended. Roswell has since stayed on the show, which is still airing as of 2011. She also appeared as Helen Lovejoy in the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie
. She attended the gala premiere together with her daughter, Spenser Rayle, who had turned fourteen years old at the time. Roswell told The Denver Post that she was surprised she was given two tickets; "Everybody in Hollywood is killing to get their kid there. My daughter's big thrill is to meet [the band] Green Day
," which also appeared in the film.
In 2004, Roswell had a minor role in the film Silver City. In 2009, she starred in the play Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner, a Sort of Romantic Comedy at Avenue Theater
in Denver. It opened in May of that year. The play told the career of actress Gilda Radner, who Roswell played, from 1975 (the start of Saturday Night Live) to her death in 1989.
Outside her acting career, Roswell likes to sing. On February 7, 1999, she debuted as a nightclub singer at the Denver Chop House & Brewery, where she performed on behalf of the homelessness charity Family Homestead. In June 2003, she sang at Denver's Rattlebrain Theatre on Sunday nights with The Sirens.
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
from Los Angeles, California
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, in which she has played recurring characters such as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, and Luann Van Houten, as well as several minor characters. This work has earned her both an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination and an Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
nomination.
Roswell made her acting break-through in the 1980s with appearances in films such as Midnight Madness (1980), Lost in America
Lost in America
Lost in America is a 1985 comedy film directed by Albert Brooks that was co-written by Brooks with Monica McGowan Johnson. Brooks stars alongside Julie Hagerty.-Plot:...
(1985), and Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film...
(1986), and guest appearances on television shows such as Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
, Masquerade
Masquerade (TV series)
Masquerade is an American espionage television series that aired for a few months on ABC in the spring of 1983.-Synopsis:Considered an amalgam of Mission: Impossible and The Love Boat, the tongue-in-cheek series starred Rod Taylor as Mr...
, and Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
. She appeared frequently in the sketch comedy The Tim Conway Show from 1980 to 1981, and did voice acting for a few animated films and television shows. Roswell also performed in some theater plays, including one in 1988 directed by Julia Sweeney
Julia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
.
In 1989, Roswell was hired for the first season
The Simpsons (season 1)
The Simpsons first season originally aired between December 17, 1989 and May 13, 1990, beginning with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The show runners for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L...
of The Simpsons. She played a few minor characters until she became a regular cast member with the introduction of Maude Flanders in the second season
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
. In 1994, Roswell and her husband Hal Rayle
Hal Rayle
Hal Rayle is an American voice actor. He has done many roles for both animated series and live action movies.-Career:Rayle has had a number of voice acting jobs over his career. Rayle's animated series roles include Lieutenant Commander Steele in SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, Pipes, Snarl and...
moved from Los Angeles to Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
to raise their daughter. Together they established the Roswell 'n' Rayle Company, creating and voicing advertisements for companies. Because of her move to Denver, Roswell had to travel to Los Angeles twice a week to tape The Simpsons. This ultimately led to her requesting a pay raise in 1999; however, Fox refused to offer her the amount she wanted so she quit the show. Roswell returned to The Simpsons in 2002 after reaching a deal to record her lines from her Denver home.
First acting work
Maggie Roswell was born and raised in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. After going to Catholic school and Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
, she began a career in acting. In the 1970s she made some guest appearances on television shows such as M*A*S*H, but she did not get her first big acting roles until the 1980s. In the 1980 film Midnight Madness, she played a character that leads a group of sorority sisters who are participating in a college puzzle solving race. Roswell also starred in the sketch comedy The Tim Conway Show in 1980 and 1981. In 1985 she appeared in the film Lost in America
Lost in America
Lost in America is a 1985 comedy film directed by Albert Brooks that was co-written by Brooks with Monica McGowan Johnson. Brooks stars alongside Julie Hagerty.-Plot:...
as the character Patty, and she had a supporting role in the 1986 film Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film...
. She also acted in the two-part television film The Deliberate Stranger
The Deliberate Stranger
The Deliberate Stranger is a book and television film about serial killer Ted Bundy.-Book:Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger was written by a Seattle Times reporter named Richard W. Larsen and published in 1980...
. In addition, Roswell played some minor roles in television shows in the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, including guest appearances on Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
(1993), Masquerade
Masquerade (TV series)
Masquerade is an American espionage television series that aired for a few months on ABC in the spring of 1983.-Synopsis:Considered an amalgam of Mission: Impossible and The Love Boat, the tongue-in-cheek series starred Rod Taylor as Mr...
(1984), Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
(1984), Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
(1993), and Quantum Leap (1993). She was offered a chance to replace Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner
Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, but turned down the offer when her agent told her "the show wasn't going anywhere."
Roswell also did theater. In 1986 she appeared in improvisatory shows directed by Paul Sills
Paul Sills
Paul Sills was a director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago's The Second City.-Biography:...
at Lamb's Theatre
Lamb's Theatre
Lamb's Theatre was an Off-Broadway theater located at 130 West 44th Street, New York City inside the Manhattan Church of the Nazarene, near Times Square in New York City. It seated approximately 350 and specialized in musical productions...
, in which the actors were given characters and situations by the audience members. In 1988 she had a role in Julia Sweeney
Julia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
's play Mea's Big Apology at Groundling Theatre in Los Angeles. She played Eunice, a cynical woman who works at malpractice insurance company and is a colleague to the main character. The company people do everything they can to dismiss her because they do not want to pay her retirement benefits, which are about to take effect. Roswell reprised this role in a 1992 revival of the play, also at Groundling Theatre.
Early The Simpsons, Roswell 'n' Rayle, pay dispute
In addition to her live actionLive action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
roles, Roswell did some voice acting
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
in animated films and shows, including the voice of Teegra in Fire and Ice
Fire and Ice (1983 film)
Fire and Ice is a 1983 animated film, a collaboration between Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, distributed by 20th Century Fox, which also distributed Bakshi's 1977 release, Wizards...
from 1983. This led to her being hired on the animated television series The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
in 1989. Her first appearance was in the season one
The Simpsons (season 1)
The Simpsons first season originally aired between December 17, 1989 and May 13, 1990, beginning with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The show runners for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L...
episode "Homer's Night Out
Homer's Night Out
"Homer's Night Out" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired on March 25, 1990. It was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Rich Moore. In the episode, Bart orders a mail-order spy camera, which he uses to secretly take a photograph of Homer dancing with an exotic...
", in which she voiced the character Princess Kashmir (a belly dancer who seduces Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
). Out of the total thirteen episodes of the first season, Roswell appeared in four; however, they were only minor roles. Roswell did not become a regular cast member until the middle of the second season in the episode "Dead Putting Society
Dead Putting Society
"Dead Putting Society" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 15, 1990. In the episode, Homer's son, Bart, and Ned Flanders' son, Todd, decide to enter a miniature golf tournament...
" (1990), with the introduction of Maude Flanders (neighbor to the Simpson family
Simpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
and the loving wife of Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
). Roswell went on to voice other recurring characters on the show, such as Helen Lovejoy (the reverend's wife), Miss Hoover (an elementary school teacher), and Luann Van Houten (a housewife and mother), as well as several more one-time characters and background characters. Fellow Simpsons cast member Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
wrote in her autobiography that "Maggie has been blessed with a skill in creating one of the hardest things to create: the 'normal sound,' whatever that is. So she can easily slip into the gal next door or any number of assorted reporters, medical students, jury members, accountants, scientists and moms." Roswell was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for her work on The Simpsons. She also received a 1997 Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
nomination in the category "Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting by a Female Performer in a TV Production" for her role as Sharry Bobbins in the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
"Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious", also known as "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious", is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons eighth season and originally aired February 7, 1997. After Marge becomes stressed, the Simpsons hire a new nanny, a Mary Poppins parody, Shary Bobbins , who tries to...
", but lost to June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
.
Roswell met fellow voice actor Hal Rayle
Hal Rayle
Hal Rayle is an American voice actor. He has done many roles for both animated series and live action movies.-Career:Rayle has had a number of voice acting jobs over his career. Rayle's animated series roles include Lieutenant Commander Steele in SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, Pipes, Snarl and...
in 1986, and they married in 1987. He had done roles such as Predator
Predator (alien)
The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens....
in Predator 2
Predator 2
Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, María Conchita Alonso, Rubén Blades, and Bill Paxton. Written by Jim and John Thomas and directed by Stephen Hopkins, the film is a sequel to 1987's Predator, with Kevin Peter Hall again playing the role of the...
, the ghoulies in Ghoulies II, and Marvin the Martian
Marvin the Martian
Marvin the Martian is a fictional character appearing in the Looney Tunes cartoons. Marvin's likeness appears in miniature on the Spirit rover on Mars.-Conception and creation:...
in Air Jordan
Air Jordan
Air Jordan, also known simply as Jordans, are a brand of shoes and athletic apparel produced by Nike originally designed for and endorsed by NBA Hall of Famer and Six Time NBA Champion Michael Jordan. The Air Jordan line is now sold by the Jordan Brand subsidiary of Nike...
commercials. They moved from Los Angeles to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, in June 1994 to raise their daughter, who was born in 1993. Between March and November every year, when episodes of The Simpsons were being recorded, Roswell had to fly back to Los Angeles twice a week to attend the table reads and the recording sessions. In an article about her and her husband's move, Ricky Lopes of Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
wrote: "When The Simpsons is taping, she goes to Los Angeles every Friday morning for the first reading, flies back that afternoon, flies back Sunday to tape the show Monday and flies back home that night." Roswell said she "got the idea for the way Helen Lovejoy says 'B-bye, b-bye, b-bye,' to everybody when they leave the church from the way the flight attendants say it when you get off the plane."
Roswell and Rayle began writing, producing, and/or voicing advertisements together for companies. They established "The Roswell 'n' Rayle Company" for this purpose, and built a recording studio in their basement. In 1994, they did radio advertisements in Denver for Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
, Christy Sports, and an insect exhibit at the Museum of Natural History
Museum of Natural History
A museum of natural history is a museum with exhibits about natural history, including such topics as animals, plants, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, and climatology. Some museums feature natural-history collections in addition to other collections, such as ones related to history, art and...
. The same year, Roswell provided her voice for Campbell's Soup and Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
commercials as part of their business. The company is still active as of 2010. They are now also providing comedic ring tones.
In 1997, Roswell appeared in the film Switchback
Switchback (film)
Switchback is a 1997 thriller starring Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover, Jared Leto, Ted Levine, William Fichtner and R. Lee Ermey, set in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado, and Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was directed by Jeb Stuart.-Plot:...
alongside Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
and Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
.
Roswell left The Simpsons in spring 1999 after a pay dispute with Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, which airs The Simpsons. The dispute was not revealed to the press at first; Fox originally reported that she decided to quit only because she was tired of flying between Denver and Los Angeles for the recording sessions. It was then announced by Roswell that she had asked for a raise, not only because she was tired of the traveling, but because of the increasing cost of flight tickets. Roswell was paid $1,500 to $2,000 per episode during the three seasons before she left, and she asked Fox for a raise to $6,000 per episode. However, Fox only offered her a $150 raise, which did not even cover the travel costs, so she decided to quit. Roswell told The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
that "they offered me a $150 raise. I mean, that's lint in Fox's pocket. But Fox wanted to prove a point, I guess. I was flying myself back and forth from Denver to L.A. It was exhausting. I loved doing the show and they thought that I would come back. But now I'm busy doing other things." She further added that "I was part of the backbone of The Simpsons and I don't think the money I asked for was exorbitant. I wasn't asking for what other cast members make. I was just trying to recoup all the costs I had in travel. If they'd flown me in, I'd still be working." At that point, the six main cast members of the show were paid $125,000 per episode. As a result of Roswell's departure, the Maude Flanders character was killed off in the episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily
Alone Again, Natura-Diddily
"Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" is the fourteenth episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons, and marks the final regular appearance of the character Maude Flanders. In the episode, she is killed in an accident while watching a speedway race, devastating Ned Flanders and prompting Homer to find a...
". Voice actress Marcia Mitzman Gaven
Marcia Mitzman Gaven
Marcia Mitzman Gaven is an award-winning American actress from New York. Since studying at the High School of Performing Arts and the State University of New York at Purchase, she has appeared in many musicals during her career singing in both mezzo-soprano and soprano roles...
was hired to fill in for Roswell's other characters.
Return to The Simpsons and later work
Roswell returned to The Simpsons in 2002 in the season premiere of the fourteenth seasonThe Simpsons (season 14)
The fourteenth season of the animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between November 3, 2002 and May 18, 2003. The show runner for the fourteenth production season was Al Jean, who executive produced 21 of 22 episodes. The other...
, in which Maude made an appearance as a ghost. She reached a deal with Fox to record her lines from her Denver home and thus the dispute ended. Roswell has since stayed on the show, which is still airing as of 2011. She also appeared as Helen Lovejoy in the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
. She attended the gala premiere together with her daughter, Spenser Rayle, who had turned fourteen years old at the time. Roswell told The Denver Post that she was surprised she was given two tickets; "Everybody in Hollywood is killing to get their kid there. My daughter's big thrill is to meet [the band] Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
," which also appeared in the film.
In 2004, Roswell had a minor role in the film Silver City. In 2009, she starred in the play Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner, a Sort of Romantic Comedy at Avenue Theater
Avenue Theater
The Avenue Theater, located at 417 E 17th Avenue in Downtown Denver, Colorado has been a local favorite, producing fine Comedies, Musicals & plays as well as Improvisational comedy for years....
in Denver. It opened in May of that year. The play told the career of actress Gilda Radner, who Roswell played, from 1975 (the start of Saturday Night Live) to her death in 1989.
Outside her acting career, Roswell likes to sing. On February 7, 1999, she debuted as a nightclub singer at the Denver Chop House & Brewery, where she performed on behalf of the homelessness charity Family Homestead. In June 2003, she sang at Denver's Rattlebrain Theatre on Sunday nights with The Sirens.
Films
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Midnight Madness | Donna |
| 1983 | Fire and Ice Fire and Ice (1983 film) Fire and Ice is a 1983 animated film, a collaboration between Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, distributed by 20th Century Fox, which also distributed Bakshi's 1977 release, Wizards... |
Teegra (voice) |
| 1985 | Lost in America Lost in America Lost in America is a 1985 comedy film directed by Albert Brooks that was co-written by Brooks with Monica McGowan Johnson. Brooks stars alongside Julie Hagerty.-Plot:... |
Patty |
| 1986 | Pretty in Pink Pretty in Pink Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film... |
Mrs. Dietz |
| 1992 | Cool World Cool World Cool World is a 1992 American live-action/animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi, and starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, and Brad Pitt. It tells the story of a cartoonist who finds himself in the animated world he created, and is seduced by one of his characters, a comic strip vamp who wants to... |
Additional voice |
| 1995 | The Pebble and the Penguin The Pebble and the Penguin The Pebble and the Penguin is a 1995 animated musical film, based on the true life mating rituals of the Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film was released to theatres on April 11, 1995 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the United States and... |
Additional voice |
| 1997 | Switchback Switchback (film) Switchback is a 1997 thriller starring Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover, Jared Leto, Ted Levine, William Fichtner and R. Lee Ermey, set in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado, and Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was directed by Jeb Stuart.-Plot:... |
Fae |
| 2004 | Silver City | Ellie Hastings |
| 2007 | The Simpsons Movie The Simpsons Movie The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress... |
Helen Lovejoy (voice) |
Television
| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974... |
Appeared in one episode | |
| 1973 | M*A*S*H | Sister Theresa | Appeared in one episode: "Kim" |
| 1973 | The Partridge Family The Partridge Family The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup... |
Lois | Appeared in one episode: "Heartbreak Keith" |
| 1980–1981 | The Tim Conway Show | Numerous roles | Sketch comedy Sketch comedy A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting... |
| 1981 | And They All Lived Happily After | Lorraine Hofstedter | Television film |
| 1981 | Mork & Mindy | Donna Hammond | Appeared in one episode: "Three the Hard Way" |
| 1982 | Laverne & Shirley Laverne & Shirley Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983... |
Karen Caldwell | Appeared in one episode: "Life Is the Tar Pits" |
| 1983 | Remington Steele Remington Steele Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic... |
Margaret "Hoop" Tracy | Appeared in one episode: "Steele in the News" |
| 1984 | Masquerade Masquerade (TV series) Masquerade is an American espionage television series that aired for a few months on ABC in the spring of 1983.-Synopsis:Considered an amalgam of Mission: Impossible and The Love Boat, the tongue-in-cheek series starred Rod Taylor as Mr... |
Appeared in one episode: "Five Days" | |
| 1984 | Happy Days Happy Days Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America.... |
Joyce James | Appeared in one episode: "Fonzie Moves Out" |
| 1986 | New Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974... |
Appeared in one episode | |
| 1986 | The Deliberate Stranger The Deliberate Stranger The Deliberate Stranger is a book and television film about serial killer Ted Bundy.-Book:Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger was written by a Seattle Times reporter named Richard W. Larsen and published in 1980... |
Detective Kathy McCeshney | Minseries in two parts |
| 1987 | Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is an Japanese-American co-produced animated series based on the popular Japanese character, Hello Kitty. The series involved her and her friends doing their own version of popular fairy tales and stories... |
Additional voices | |
| 1987 | New Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974... |
Ranger Morrison | Appeared in one episode: "Babes in the Woods" |
| 1987 | Dynasty Dynasty (TV series) Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado... |
Miss Penelope Shane | Appeared in one episode: "The Testing" |
| 1987–1988 | Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures is a 1987 revival of the classic Mighty Mouse cartoon character. Produced by Bakshi-Hyde Ventures , it aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from fall 1987 through the 1988-89 season... |
Pearl Pureheart (voice) and additional voices |
Appeared in 14 episodes |
| 1987–1989 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists... |
Additional voices | Appeared in two episodes: one in 1987 and one in 1989 |
| 1988 | Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears is an animated television movie that premiered in 1988 as part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 film series. It was the last time Daws Butler voiced Yogi.-Plot:... |
Little Girl (voice) | Animated television film |
| 1988 | Jake and the Fatman Jake and the Fatman Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series... |
Appeared in one episode: "What Is This Thing Called Love? " | |
| 1988–1991 | A Pup Named Scooby-Doo A Pup Named Scooby-Doo A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is the eighth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. This spin-off of the original show was created by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988 and ran for three seasons on ABC as a half-hour program, until August 17, 1991... |
Additional voices | |
| 1989 | Hunter | Adelle Roberts | Appeared in one episode: "Shoot to Kill" |
| 1990 | TaleSpin TaleSpin TaleSpin is a half-hour American animated television series based in the fictional city of Cape Suzette, that first aired in 1990 as part of The Disney Afternoon, with characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature The Jungle Book. The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", the rapid,... |
Additional voices | |
| 1990 | Tiny Toon Adventures Tiny Toon Adventures Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros.... |
Mary Vain (voice) | Appeared in one episode: "Hollywood Plucky" |
| 1990–1999 2002–present |
The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... |
Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten, Miss Hoover and additional voices |
Has appeared in more than 175 episodes |
| 1991 | L.A. Law L.A. Law L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,... |
Home buyer | Appeared in one episode: "Rest in Pieces" |
| 1991 | Guns of Paradise | Appeared in one episode: "Twenty-Four Hours" | |
| 1991 | Bad Attitudes | Angela's mother | Television film |
| 1991 | James Bond Jr. James Bond Jr. James Bond Jr. is a fictional character described as the nephew of Ian Fleming's masterspy James Bond. The name "James Bond Junior" was first used in 1967 for an unsuccessful spinoff novel entitled 003½: The Adventures of James Bond Junior written under the pseudonym R. D. Mascott... |
Additional voices | |
| 1991 | Darkwing Duck Darkwing Duck DarkWing Duck is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991–1992 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured the eponymous anthropomorphic duck superhero whose alter ego is mild-mannered... |
Female superhero (voice) | Appeared in one episode: "Planet of the Capes" |
| 1992 | Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive is a 1992 horror film that is supposed to be based on real events.-Plot:A family buys a house in a new development. The only problem is that it was built on an old graveyard. The developers deny that the graveyard exists and the family starts out to prove... |
Rita Marshall | Television film |
| 1993 | Quantum Leap | Masterson | Appeared in one episode: "Revenge of the Evil Leaper" |
| 1993 | Murphy Brown Murphy Brown Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television... |
Mother #2 | Appeared in one episode: "The Egg & I" |
| 1993 | Bonkers Bonkers (TV series) Bonkers is an animated American television series that aired from September 4, 1993 to February 23, 1994 in first-run syndication . The syndicated run was available both separately, and as part of The Disney Afternoon... |
Anita the Hairdresser (voice) | Appeared in one episode: "Weather or Not" |
| 1994 | Animaniacs Animaniacs Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven... |
Princess of Props (voice) | Appeared in one episode: "Baloney & Kids/Super Buttons/Katie Ka-Boom: The Driving Lesson" |
| 1998 | Venus on the Hard Drive | Venus (voice) | Animated television series |
Video games
| Year | Game | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield | Additional voices |