Marcia Wallace
Encyclopedia
Marcia Karen Wallace is an American
character actress
, comedienne
and game show
panelist, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies. She is perhaps best known for her roles as receptionist Carol Kester on the 1970s sitcom
, The Bob Newhart Show
, and as the voice of Edna Krabappel
on the animated series The Simpsons
, for which she won an Emmy
for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
in 1992.
and teaching English as a substitute teacher in the Bronx, she began her performing career in 1968, appearing for a year Off-Broadway
with the improvisational group, The Fourth Wall. Afterwards, she made several other appearances in improvisational shows, and, after losing 100 pounds (45.4 kg) from her previous weight of 230, appeared in a nude production of Dark of the Moon
at the avant-garde
Mercer Arts Center
. She also did commercials and studied with renowned acting teacher Uta Hagen
.
Wallace was a semi-regular on The Merv Griffin Show
, appearing over 50 times, and moved to Hollywood at Griffin
's request. One of these appearances in March 1972 led to a supporting role on The Bob Newhart Show
as Carol Kester (later Carol Kester Bondurant), receptionist to Bob Newhart
.
When that series ended its six-season run in 1978, Wallace began three decades of television appearances as a game show panelist, on shows such as Hollywood Squares
, Password Plus
and its 1980s spin-off Super Password
, Whew!
, the 1980s version of Crosswits
, Hot Potato
, Body Language
, The $25,000 Pyramid
, Double Talk
, Win, Lose or Draw
, To Tell the Truth
and Match Game
. She was also on special celebrity episodes of the Ray Combs
version of Family Feud
and the Jim Perry version of Card Sharks
. In April 2008, Wallace appeared on the interactive show GSN Live
.
In addition to her game show appearances, Wallace was seen on television as a school principal in two episodes of ALF
, played "Mrs. Caruthers" in a few episodes of Full House
, and appeared in episode #227 of Bewitched
("Laugh, Clown, Laugh") as Darrin's secretary in 1971. She and Bob Newhart both reprised their signature roles from The Bob Newhart Show in episode #147 of Murphy Brown
("Anything But Cured"). She also appeared on The Brady Bunch
twice, once as Marcia's teacher and once as the woman who sold Jan a Mod New Wig in "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up". Wallace also had guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote
, Magnum, P.I.
, and A Different World, On Taxi
, she portrayed herself, chosen as the ideal date of Rev. Jim Ignatowski. Later, Wallace played the maid on the satirical series That's My Bush!
, and in 2009, appeared on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless
where she played an inefficient assistant kidnapper, Annie Wilkes. She currently has a recurring role on The Simpsons
as Edna Krabappel
, which earned her an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
in 1992 and she has appeared in over 100 episodes.
On film, Wallace appeared in such features as My Mother the Werewolf, Teen Witch
and Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College.
She also played a high school drama teacher who sponsors a Gay Straight Alliance in the 2008 film Tru Loved
.
Wallace's work onstage includes An Almost Perfect Person in Los Angeles, which she also produced, a tour of the female version of Neil Simon
's The Odd Couple
, and productions of Same Time Next Year, Twigs
, It Had to Be You, Supporting Cast, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Plaza Suite
, Gypsy
, Promises, Promises
, Born Yesterday
, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
, Steel Magnolias
and Last of the Red Hot Lovers – in which she played all three roles at various times. She also performed in The Vagina Monologues
in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Diego.
in 1985, after which she became an activist and lecturer on the subject. On January 27, 2007, Wallace won the Gilda Radner
Courage Award from Roswell Park Cancer Institute
for helping educate Americans about the importance of early cancer detection and inspiring others through her 20 years as a breast cancer survivor.
In addition, Wallace is a member of Delta Zeta
sorority and was named the Delta Zeta 2010 Woman of the Year at the 2010 Biennial National Convention in Tucson, Arizona.
Her autobiography, Don't Look Back, We're Not Going That Way, which was published in 2004, recounts the early detection of her breast cancer, the loss of her husband Dennis to pancreatic cancer
, her nervous breakdown
, her single motherhood and other experiences.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
character actress
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, comedienne
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
panelist, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies. She is perhaps best known for her roles as receptionist Carol Kester on the 1970s sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
, and as the voice of Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :...
on the animated 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...
, for which she won an Emmy
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 Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors...
in 1992.
Career
Wallace moved from Iowa to New York the day that she graduated from college. After performing in summer stockSummer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
and teaching English as a substitute teacher in the Bronx, she began her performing career in 1968, appearing for a year Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
with the improvisational group, The Fourth Wall. Afterwards, she made several other appearances in improvisational shows, and, after losing 100 pounds (45.4 kg) from her previous weight of 230, appeared in a nude production of Dark of the Moon
Dark of the Moon (play)
Dark of the Moon is a dramatic stage play by Howard Richardson and William Berney which had a ten-month run on Broadway in 1945, followed by numerous college and high-school productions....
at the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
Mercer Arts Center
Mercer Arts Center
The Mercer Arts Center was a group of live theaters on Mercer Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, and was part of the Broadway Central Hotel until its collapse on August 3, 1973....
. She also did commercials and studied with renowned acting teacher Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
.
Wallace was a semi-regular on The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
, appearing over 50 times, and moved to Hollywood at Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...
's request. One of these appearances in March 1972 led to a supporting role on The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
as Carol Kester (later Carol Kester Bondurant), receptionist to Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
.
When that series ended its six-season run in 1978, Wallace began three decades of television appearances as a game show panelist, on shows such as Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants...
, Password Plus
Password Plus and Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password are American game shows that are revivals of the game show Password. Both Password Plus and Super Password had the same format other than some subtle changes....
and its 1980s spin-off Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password are American game shows that are revivals of the game show Password. Both Password Plus and Super Password had the same format other than some subtle changes....
, Whew!
Whew!
Whew! is an American game show that aired on CBS from April 23, 1979, until May 30, 1980. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Rod Roddy.The game was created by Jay Wolpert...
, the 1980s version of Crosswits
Crosswits
Crosswits is a British TV quiz show, originally hosted by Barry Cryer, then comedian Tom O'Connor took over until the show ended in 1998....
, Hot Potato
Hot Potato (game show)
Hot Potato was a television game show broadcast on NBC in the United States from January 23 to June 29, 1984. Bill Cullen was the show's host and Charlie O'Donnell was the announcer....
, Body Language
Body Language (game show)
Body Language is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson Productions. The show aired on CBS from June 4, 1984 until January 3, 1986, and was hosted by Tom Kennedy...
, The $25,000 Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
, Double Talk
Double Talk
Double Talk is an American game show that aired on the ABC network in 1986. Henry Polic II hosted this word game created by Bob Stewart, which contained elements of the previous Stewart-produced game show Shoot For the Stars...
, Win, Lose or Draw
Win, Lose or Draw
Win, Lose or Draw is an American television game show that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City, often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at various times...
, To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
and Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
. She was also on special celebrity episodes of the Ray Combs
Ray Combs
Raymond Neil "Ray" Combs, Jr. was an American comedian, actor, and host of the game show Family Feud on CBS and in syndication from 1988 to 1994.-Early life and career:...
version of Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
and the Jim Perry version of Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
. In April 2008, Wallace appeared on the interactive show GSN Live
GSN Live
GSN Live is an American live interactive show on Game Show Network that premiered on February 25, 2008 at noon ET and officially ended its 3 year run on July 29, 2011. The last "live" edition aired May 13, 2011...
.
In addition to her game show appearances, Wallace was seen on television as a school principal in two episodes of ALF
ALF (TV series)
ALF is an American science fiction sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990, created by Paul Fusco. The title character was Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF , who crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle-class Tanner family.The series starred Max...
, played "Mrs. Caruthers" in a few episodes of Full House
Full House
Full House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
, and appeared in episode #227 of Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
("Laugh, Clown, Laugh") as Darrin's secretary in 1971. She and Bob Newhart both reprised their signature roles from The Bob Newhart Show in episode #147 of 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...
("Anything But Cured"). She also appeared on The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
twice, once as Marcia's teacher and once as the woman who sold Jan a Mod New Wig in "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up". Wallace also had guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
, and A Different World, On Taxi
Taxi (TV series)
Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...
, she portrayed herself, chosen as the ideal date of Rev. Jim Ignatowski. Later, Wallace played the maid on the satirical series That's My Bush!
That's My Bush!
That's My Bush! is an American comedy television series that aired on Comedy Central from April 4 to May 23, 2001. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, best known for also creating South Park, the series centers on the fictitious personal life of President George W. Bush, as played by Timothy...
, and in 2009, appeared on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
where she played an inefficient assistant kidnapper, Annie Wilkes. She currently has a recurring role on 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...
as Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :...
, which earned her 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 Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors...
in 1992 and she has appeared in over 100 episodes.
On film, Wallace appeared in such features as My Mother the Werewolf, Teen Witch
Teen Witch
Teen Witch is a 1989 fantasy teen comedy film starring Robyn Lively. It was originally pitched as a female version of the 1985 Teen Wolf, although it later was reworked and turned into a film of its own...
and Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College.
She also played a high school drama teacher who sponsors a Gay Straight Alliance in the 2008 film Tru Loved
Tru Loved
Tru Loved is a 2008 independent feature film written and directed by Stewart Wade.-Plot:Sixteen-year-old Tru has been raised in San Francisco by two lesbian mothers and two gay fathers...
.
Wallace's work onstage includes An Almost Perfect Person in Los Angeles, which she also produced, a tour of the female version of Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
, and productions of Same Time Next Year, Twigs
Twigs (play)
Twigs is a play by George Furth, with incidental music by Stephen Sondheim.It consists of four vignettes involving three sisters and their mother, each focusing on one of the women as she confronts various issues with the man in her life. Emily is a recent widow, relocating to a new apartment, who...
, It Had to Be You, Supporting Cast, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Plaza Suite
Plaza Suite
Plaza Suite is a comedy play by Neil Simon.-Plot:The play is composed of three acts, each involving different characters but all set in Suite 719 of New York City's Plaza Hotel...
, Gypsy
Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
, Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises
Promises, Promises is a musical based on the 1960 film The Apartment. The music is by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Musical numbers for the original Broadway production were choreographed by Michael Bennett; Robert Moore directed and David Merrick produced...
, Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday is a play written by Garson Kanin which premiered on Broadway in 1946, starring Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. The play was adapted intoa successful 1950 film of the same name.- Plot :...
, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a 1967 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip Peanuts...
, Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias (play)
Steel Magnolias is a comedy–drama play about the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana. It is written by Robert Harling, based on his experience with the death of his sister. The title suggests the "female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel"...
and Last of the Red Hot Lovers – in which she played all three roles at various times. She also performed in The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...
in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Diego.
Personal life
Wallace was diagnosed with breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 1985, after which she became an activist and lecturer on the subject. On January 27, 2007, Wallace won the 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:...
Courage Award from Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
The Roswell Park Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded in 1898 by Dr. Roswell Park, it was the first dedicated medical facility for cancer treatment and research in the United States. The facility is involved in drug...
for helping educate Americans about the importance of early cancer detection and inspiring others through her 20 years as a breast cancer survivor.
In addition, Wallace is a member of Delta Zeta
Delta Zeta
Delta Zeta is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Today, Delta Zeta has 158 collegiate chapters in the United States and over 200 alumnae chapters in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada...
sorority and was named the Delta Zeta 2010 Woman of the Year at the 2010 Biennial National Convention in Tucson, Arizona.
Her autobiography, Don't Look Back, We're Not Going That Way, which was published in 2004, recounts the early detection of her breast cancer, the loss of her husband Dennis to pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
, her nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
, her single motherhood and other experiences.