Creator / Julie Kavner

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Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress. Although she first became known for her role as Brenda Morgenstern in the sitcom Rhoda, she is most famous as the voice of Marge Simpson (and the women on Marge's side of the family, such as cynical, chain-smoking twin sisters Patty and Selma^note or, as Homer calls them, "The Gruesome Twosome", Jackie^note Marge's mom, Great Aunt Gladys^note the relative who died in "Selma's Choice", and some unnamed relatives who had minor roles on the season six episode, "Fear of Flying"^note the one where Marge goes to therapy about her aerophobia while Homer gets banned from Moe's for playing a lame prank on him) in The Simpsons.

She has also appeared in six of Woody Allen's films.

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Selected Filmography:

• Rhoda (1974-1978): Brenda Morgenstern.
• Lou Grant (1977): Alice Merrin.
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986): Gail.
• New York Stories (1989): Treva.
• The Simpsons (1989-present): Marge Simpson/Patty Bouvier/Selma Bouvier/Jacqueline Bouvier.
  • The Simpsons Movie (2007): Marge/Patty/Selma.
• Awakenings (1990): Eleanor Costello.
• Shadows and Fog (1991): Alma.
• Forget Paris (1995): Lucy.
• Deconstructing Harry (1997): Grace.
• The Lion King 1½ (2004): Timon's Ma.
• Click (2006): Trudy Newman.

Tropes:

• Reclusive Artist: Kavner is a very private person and does not allow herself to be photographed while working. She also has a clause in her Simpsons contract that says she does not have to promote the show, making the few times she agrees to do so very momentous occasions. Her relatively rare public appearances include an episode of Inside the Actors Studio alongside her Simpsons co-stars^note It was one of the few times she agreed to do the Marge voice in public, although she refused to let herself actually be shown doing it on TV (clips of Marge covered the segments where she was interviewed as the character). The episode is also notorious because Kavner suddenly disappears halfway through, without anyone mentioning it. It was because she had to catch a plane and they erroneously told her it would only take an hour to tape, when it was really more like two hours. and Woody Allen: A Documentary.

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• Reviewer Stock Phrases: It's practically a requirement for anyone writing about her to use the phrase "honeyed gravel" to describe her unique voice.