Marcia Wallace

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Marcia Wallace
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materParsons College
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
Years active1967–2013
Known forThe Bob Newhart Show
Full House
The Simpsons
Spouse
Dennis Hawley
​
​
(m. 1986; died 1992)​
Children1

Marcia Karen Wallace (November 1, 1942 – October 25, 2013) was an American actress and comedian, primarily known for her roles on

Emmy
in 1992. The character was retired after her death but sporadically appears through archive recording.

Wallace was known for her tall frame, red hair, and distinctive laugh. She had a career spanning five decades on TV, film, and stage. She was a frequent guest on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to her receiving a personal request to appear on The Bob Newhart Show in a role created especially for her. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985, she became a cancer activist, and remained so throughout her life.[1]

Early life

Wallace was born in

high school, a teacher encouraged her to consider a career in acting after she did well in a school play. Following her 1960 graduation from Creston High School, Wallace attended nearby Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, which had offered her a full scholarship. She was a member of the Delta Nu chapter of Delta Zeta sorority. At Parsons, she majored in English and Theater, graduating in 1964, and performing in several campus productions, including Brigadoon and The Music Man.[2]

Career

On the day she graduated from college at Parsons, Wallace moved from

Mercer Arts Center in Greenwich Village (now known as The Kitchen - a performing arts institution relocated to the West Village area of Manhattan).[5]

Marcia Wallace at age 33 with Bob Newhart (right) and Will Mackenzie in a fourth season episode of The Bob Newhart Show, "Carol's Wedding", in 1975

Wallace was a semiregular on

CBS-TV founder and longtime chairman William S. ("Bill") Paley.[2] The role of "Carol Kester" (later "Carol Kester Bondurant"), the sarcastic and eccentric office receptionist to "Dr. Robert Hartley", Bob Newhart's central character, was written specifically for her.[2][6] Newhart and Wallace later reprised their roles from The Bob Newhart Show to guest roles on "Anything but Cured", an episode of Murphy Brown (starring Candice Bergen
).

When The Bob Newhart Show ended its six-season run in 1978, Wallace began three decades of television appearances on various

cable TV channel Game Show Network
(GSN).

Other brief television roles include: as Samantha's husband Darrin's secretary in "Laugh, Clown, Laugh", a

Annie Wilkes
, an inefficient assistant kidnapper.

After

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the episode "Bart the Lover
" on The Simpsons.

On film, Wallace appeared in such features as

high school drama teacher who sponsors a gay–straight alliance
.

Wallace's work onstage included An Almost Perfect Person in Los Angeles, which she also produced; a tour of the female version of

Sacramento. (based on her 1957 memoirs / autobiography and first performed on the stage in 1962 and followed by a feature film and subsequent stage revivals over later decades).[7] She returned the following season in the musicale Promises, Promises. Other stage productions included Born Yesterday, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Steel Magnolias, and Last of the Red Hot Lovers, in which she played all three female roles at various times.[3] She performed in The Vagina Monologues production in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Diego.[3] In 2013, shortly before her passing, she voiced the character of the librarian in Monsters University
, and in 2014 (posthumously) she portrayed herself in the movie Muffin Top: A Love Story.

Personal life

Wallace married

Buddhist ceremony.[8] The couple adopted an infant son, Michael Wallace "Mikey" Hawley.[2] Dennis died from pancreatic cancer in June 1992.[9]

Before her marriage, Wallace was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985,

NBC-TV). It was annually given by the longtime nationally prominent institution in the medical fight against the disease of cancer, the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York
. It was given to her six years before her death for helping educate Americans about the importance of early cancer detection and inspiring others through her 20 years as a breast cancer survivor.

Wallace was a member of

bulimia
. She credited the title of the book to her father, who used the phrase often during her childhood.

She was noted on a list of "

Des Moines Register, in November 2013.[2]

Illness, death and funeral

Wallace died from pneumonia and sepsis on October 25, 2013, at age 70. Breast cancer was also listed as a significant condition on her death certificate.[11] Wallace was cremated following a private funeral service.[12]

Staff on The Simpsons had reportedly been aware of her ill health.[12] Showrunner Al Jean said, "I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace."[6] Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa Simpson, tweeted, "Heaven is now a much funnier place b/c of you, Marcia."[13] Former co-star Bob Newhart commented on his Facebook fan page, "Marcia's death came as quite a shock, she left us too early. She was a talented actress and dear friend[.]"[14] Al Jean said that producers planned to retire her "irreplaceable" character Edna Krabappel.[6] The Simpsons episode "Four Regrettings and a Funeral" was shown on November 3, 2013, and dedicated to her.[15] Wallace had recorded lines for several upcoming episodes, and her final episode, "The Man Who Grew Too Much," aired on March 9, 2014.[15] In February 2021, it was announced that archival recordings of Marcia Wallace's voice that she provided as Edna Krabappel would be making a final appearance on The Simpsons. The character is mentioned in a chalkboard gag and shown in flashback scenes in the show's 696th episode, entitled "Diary Queen." In an interview with Variety regarding the announcement, Al Jean remarked: "we never got the chance to give sort of a proper goodbye to her in the show, and this is a small attempt to do that."[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Corporate Speakers - Cancer survivor and speaker Marcia Wallace". Corporate Artists. Archived from the original on June 17, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Longden, Tom (April 10, 2005). "Creston's Marcia Wallace brings humor to every role". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved October 5, 2012 – via Parsons College alumni website.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Biography Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine from MarciaWallace.com Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Marcia Wallace at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
  5. ^ ​Dark of the Moon​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
  6. ^ a b c "'Simpsons' star Marcia Wallace dies at 70". Chicago Tribune. Reuters. October 26, 2013. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Brown, Carol (August 10, 1983). "Actors enjoy their stay, on and off stage". The Day. New London, Conn. p. 18. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  8. ^ "Famous Iowans - Marcia Wallace". The Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  9. ^ Sanz, Cynthia (March 2, 1992). "After the Laughter". People. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  10. ^ "Marcia Wallace". The Speak Well Being Group. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
  11. ^ "Marcia Wallace's death caused by pneumonia and breast cancer". Toronto Sun. November 24, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Marcia Wallace, actress from 'The Simpsons' and 'The Bob Newhart Show', dies at 70". Entertainment Weekly. October 26, 2013. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ Best, Jessica (October 26, 2013). "Marcia Wallace dies: Tributes as voice of The Simpsons' Edna Krabappel passes away aged 70". Daily Mirror. London.
  14. ^ "Bob Newhart". Facebook. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  15. ^ a b Hughes, Jason (November 4, 2013). "'The Simpsons' Pays Tribute to Marcia Wallace with Final Chalkboard Message". HuffPost. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  16. ^ Schneider, Michael (February 21, 2021). "Here's How 'The Simpsons' Brought Back the Late Marcia Wallace to Say Goodbye to Mrs. Krabappel". Variety. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2022 – via Yahoo! Entertainment.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcia Wallace.


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