caption years_active religion birth_place children birth_date spouse image article_title name occupation
nancy cartwright in 2007 1980 -- present scientology dayton , ohio , united states jack murphy , lucy murphy 25 october 1957 warren murphy 1988 2002 divorced andreacartwright07.jpg nancy cartwright
 nancy cartwright voice actress actress comedian
nancy cartwright

nancy jean cartwright -lrb- born october 25 , 1957 -rrb- is an american voice actress , film and television actress , and comedienne .
she is known for her long-running role as bart simpson on the animated television series `` the simpsons '' .
cartwright also voices other characters for the show , including nelson muntz , ralph wiggum , todd flanders , kearney , and database .
cartwright was born in dayton , ohio .
cartwright moved to hollywood in 1978 and trained alongside voice actor daws butler .
her first professional role was voicing gloria in the animated series `` richie rich '' , which she followed with a starring role in the television movie `` marian rose white '' -lrb- 1982 -rrb- and her first feature film , '' '' -lrb- 1983 -rrb- .
after continuing to search for acting work , in 1987 cartwright auditioned for a role in a series of animated shorts about a dysfunctional family that was to appear on `` the tracey ullman show '' .
cartwright intended to audition for the role of lisa simpson , the middle child ; when she arrived at the audition , she found the role of bart -- lisa 's brother -- to be more interesting .
matt groening , the series ' creator , allowed her to audition for bart and offered her the role on the spot .
she voiced bart for three seasons on `` the tracey ullman show '' , and in 1989 , the shorts were spun off into a half-hour show called `` the simpsons '' .
for her subsequent work as bart , cartwright received a primetime emmy award for outstanding voice-over performance in 1992 and an annie award for best voice acting in the field of animation in 1995 .
cartwright has voiced numerous animated characters , including chuckie finster in `` rugrats '' and `` all grown up ! ''
-lrb- the former of which was previously held by christine cavanaugh -rrb- , rufus in `` kim possible '' , mindy in `` animaniacs '' , margo sherman in `` the critic '' and chip in `` the kellys '' .
in 2000 , she published her autobiography , `` my life as a 10-year-old boy '' , and four years later adapted it into a one-woman play .
