The Iconic Voice Actor Behind Lisa Simpson Just Received an Unexpected Honor
You can tell a person’s age by how they know Yeardley Smith. If they know her for her roles as Putter in The Legend of Billie Jean or Connie in Maximum Overdrive, that person is solidly Gen X (and has a taste for cult classic movies); but for anyone born later, they probably know her best as the voice of Lisa Simpson, the brilliant middle child of The Simpsons.
It’s that role that recently got Smith, 61, on the cover of TIME magazine, an accomplishment she celebrated on Aug. 4. “It’s about TIME,” she captioned her Instagram slideshow of her holding the special edition celebrating The Simpsons‘ historic run (“36 Iconic Years and Counting”)
Smith posed with all four special covers, featuring Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and the full family, including Marge (Julie Kavner) and Maggie.
Yeardley also proved that she’s a serious Simpsons collector: she decorated her walls with what appears to be original animation cells.
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In 2023, Smith reflected on her role as Lisa in a discussion with Vulture. By season two, Smith said she “already loved my character.”
Smith has voiced Lisa since The Simpsons debuted on Dec. 17, 1989. When speaking with Vulture in 2023 about “Lisa’s Substitute,” the 1991 episode featuring Dustin Hoffman, Smith discussed her role as a voice actor.
“I think people sometimes think of voice-over as being a lesser form of acting because nobody sees your face, but I’ve never felt that way,” said Smith.
“People think you can do less behind the microphone because nobody sees my tears,” she said, referring to the emotion she shared during the episode’s climactic moment. “But for me, I don’t know how to separate being on camera and being in front of the microphone. Why would you somehow give less of your heart and soul and everything you know how to do just because nobody physically sees you?”
The Simpsons will kick off Season 37 on Sept. 28. In April, Fox announced it had renewed the long-running series for four more seasons, bringing The Simpsons to 40 seasons.
The Simpson clan isn’t the first cartoon group to appear on the cover of TIME — the Peanuts gang made the cover in 1965.
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