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Hank Azaria has been a part of the Simpsons regular voice cast since the second season.

The Simpsons is an American animated comedy television series that includes six main voice actors, and numerous regular cast and recurring guest stars. The principal cast consists of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer. Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor, Marcia Wallace, Marcia Mitzman Gaven and Karl Wiedergott have appeared as supporting cast. Repeat guest cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna and Kelsey Grammer.^[1]

With one exception, episode credits list only the voice actors, and not the characters they voice. Both Fox and the production crew wanted to keep their identities secret during the early seasons and, therefore, closed most of the recording sessions while refusing to publish photos of the recording artists.^[2] However, the network eventually revealed which roles each actor performed in the episode "Old Money", because the producers said the voice actors should receive credit for their work.^[3] With the exception of Shearer, every main cast member has won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.^[4] However, he was nominated for the award in 2009 for his performance in the episode "The Burns and the Bees".^[5] Castellaneta has won four and Azaria has won three, while Kavner, Cartwright, Smith, Wallace, Grammer and guest star Jackie Mason have each won one.^[6]

Regular cast

Background

Dan Castellaneta voices Homer Simpson, along with several other recurring characters.

Nancy Cartwright is best known for voicing Bart Simpson.

Yeardley Smith provides the voice of Lisa Simpson only.

Harry Shearer is the only principal cast member who has not won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

Marcia Wallace appears regularly as Edna Krabappel.

Kelsey Grammer voices Sideshow Bob.

Jan Hooks plays Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon.

Maurice LaMarche has appeared in several minor roles.

Castellaneta and Kavner were asked to voice the lead roles of Homer and Marge Simpson as they were regular cast members of The Tracey Ullman Show on which The Simpsons shorts appeared.^[7][8] Cartwright auditioned for the part of Lisa, but found that Lisa was simply described as the "middle child" and at the time did not have much personality. She then became more interested in the role of Bart. Matt Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.^[9] Yeardley Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high.^[10][11] Smith was given the role of Lisa instead, although she almost turned it down.^[12] When the show was commissioned for a full half-hour series, Shearer joined the cast and performed multiple roles. Groening and Sam Simon asked Shearer to join the cast as they were fans of his radio show.^[13] Azaria was only a guest actor in the first season, but became permanent in season two.^[14] He first appeared in "Some Enchanted Evening", re-recording Christopher Collins's lines as Moe Szyslak. As he joined later than the rest of the cast, Groening still considers Azaria the "new guy."^[15]

Up until 1998, the six main actors were paid $30,000 per episode. In 1998 they were then involved in a pay dispute in which Fox threatened to replace them with new actors and went as far as preparing for casting of new voices. However, the issue was soon resolved and from 1998 to 2004, they were paid $125,000 per episode. In 2004, the voice actors intentionally skipped several table reads, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode.^[16] The strike was resolved a month later^[17] and they now earn something between $250,000^[18] and $360,000 per episode.^[19] In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a "healthy bump" in salary to an amount close to $500,000 per episode.^[19] The dispute was soon resolved, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.^[20]

Main cast

Other regular cast

Recurring guest voices

Former cast members

Awards and nominations

Notes

References