Tara Strong

Singer

Arkham Series

Danny Phantom

Ben 10

Justice League

Dan Vs.

Samurai Jack

Chowder

Rick And Morty

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Fillmore

**Tara Lyn Strong** (née **Charendoff**; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadianactress, voice actress, and singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons. In *Phineas and Ferb*, she voices the bird in the episode "Interview With a Platypus". She also voices Timmy Turner & Poof from *The Fairly OddParents*, Melody from *The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea*, and Dawn in *The Buzz on Maggie*. She is also well known for voicing Raven in*Teen Titans* and Twilight Sparkle in *My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic*.

## Early Life

Tara Lyn Charendoff was born on February 12, 1973 to Jewish-Canadian parents who ran a convenience/toy/candy store called The Wiz, and was raised in Toronto, Ontario. Strong's acting career began when she volunteered to be a soloist in the school production at age four. Soon, she began acting in the Yiddish Theater; though she did not know Yiddish, she memorized her lines phonetically. During this time, she also performed at the Toronto Jewish Theater (TJA), where she acted in *A Night of Stars*, and was featured in an audiotape for "Lay Down Your Arms" with the Habonim Youth Choir, where she sang the lyrics in both English and Hebrew,[1] a feat she repeated on February 10, 2005, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel during the March of the Living dinner in honor of Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.[1]

At age 13, Strong was accepted into a performing arts school, where she landed her first professional role: the role of Gracie in the Limelight Theater's production of *The Music Man*. That same year, she booked a guest starring role in Mr. T's *T. and T.* Afterwards, she landed the Title role in *Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater* and starred in the short-lived CBC Television Sitcom*Mosquito Lake* before moving to Los Angeles in the midst of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.[1]

## Career

Strong is the voice behind a multitude of North American animated characters, including main roles in *The New Batman Adventures* as Batgirl; *Fillmore!* as Ingrid Third; *Rugrats* and *All Grown Up!* as Dil Pickles; *The Powerpuff Girls* as Bubbles; *Ben 10* as Ben Tennyson, Upgrade, Benwolf, and Buzzshock; *The Fairly OddParents* as Timmy Turner and Poof; *Xiaolin Showdown* as Omi; *Teen Titans* as Raven; *Drawn Together* as Princess Clara and Toot Braunstein; *The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3* and *Super Mario World* as Hip/Lemmy and Hop/Iggy Koopa;*Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends* as Terrence; *Transformers Animated* as Sari Sumdac, Slipstream, Slo-Mo, Strika, Red Alert, Mayor Edsel's press secretary, and additional voices; *Sym-Bionic Titan* as Ilana Lunas;*Chowder* as Truffles; the singing voice of Meg Griffin and additional voices on *Family Guy*; *101 Dalmatians: The Series* as Spot/Two-Tone; *My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic* as Twilight Sparkle; and currently voices Betty Boop in commercials with Tress MacNeille.

She has also lent her voice to English-language localizations of Japanese anime such as *Spirited Away*, *Sailor Moon*, *Shaman King*, and *Princess Mononoke*, as well as several video games, including her work as Elisa and Ursula in *Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops*; Paz Ortega Andrade in *Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker*; Seth Balmore in *Lost Odyssey*; Rikku in *Final Fantasy X*, it's sequel *Final Fantasy X-2*, and *Kingdom Hearts II*; Norma Beatty in*Tales of Legendia*; Talwyn Apogee in *Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction* and it's sequel, *Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty* (both of which reunite her with her *Final Fantasy X*/*Drawn Together* co-star James Arnold Taylor) and Harley Quinn replacing Arleen Sorkin in *Batman: Arkham City*. Numerous sources have stated that she also voiced Bowser Jr. in *Super Mario Sunshine* and went uncredited for the role.

She has appeared in live roles in *National Lampoon's Senior Trip*, *Sabrina Goes to Rome*, *Sabrina, Down Under*,*Mosquito Lake*, and *The Last White Dishwasher*. She also made guest appearances on such shows as *Forever Knight*, *Street Legal*, *Touched by an Angel*, *Take Home Chef*, *Party of Five*, *Comic Book: The Movie*, *Kung Fu: The Legend Continues*, and *3rd Rock from the Sun*.[1] She has the role of the character Miss Collins inNickelodeon's live action series *Big Time Rush*. Strong has been nominated four times for an Annie Award, and once for a Daytime Emmy and she will voice Roxy of Winx Club, which will be broadcast on Nickelodeon.[1]

In 2004, she won an Interactive Achievement Award for her role as Rikku in *Final Fantasy X-2*. She also served as the announcer for the 2000 Kids' Choice Awards, appeared as a guest at several fan conventions (includingBotCon, Jacon, Comic-Con International, and Anime Overdose), and was featured on the front cover of the July/August 2004 issue of *Working Mother* magazine, saying, "My son is now old enough to respond to my work. To me, that's what it is all about."[1][2]