Marcia Wallace
Marcia Wallace died. Seventy, breast cancer. She voiced Mrs. Krabappel from episode two of The Simpsons onward—that depressed teacher with the raspy laugh and the sarcastic drawl, who hated her job and wanted a drink and had nothing but contempt for the world, but showed up anyway.
I’ve been hearing that voice since childhood. That character defined what a certain kind of exhausted adult sounded like. Not mean, just worn down by the world. When the show eventually killed off Mrs. Krabappel, it seemed right. Al Jean said she was irreplaceable. He wasn’t being sentimental. She was.
You don’t really think about the voice actors until they’re gone. Then you realize how much of your own sense of humor came from their voice, how they taught you that adults could be bored and resentful and still show up anyway. That’s the stuff that stays.