Editing Nancy Cartwright (section)

===Early career===
[[File:Daws Butler (1976).jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Daws Butler]] was Cartwright's mentor and helped her become a voice actress.<ref name="Edinburgh" />]]
While attending UCLA, which did not have a public speaking team,<ref>Cartwright, p. 19.</ref> Cartwright continued training as a voice actress with Butler. She recalled, "every Sunday I'd take a 20-minute bus ride to his house in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]] for a one-hour lesson and be there for four hours&nbsp;... They had four sons, they didn't have a daughter and I kind of fitted in as the baby of the family."<ref name="Edinburgh">{{Cite web |url=http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/thesimpsons/And-speaking-of-the-Simpsons.2554090.jp |title=And speaking of the Simpsons |date=August 12, 2004 |work=[[Edinburgh Evening News]] |access-date=February 7, 2009}}</ref> Butler introduced her to many of the voice actors and directors at [[Hanna-Barbera]]. After she met the director [[Gordon Hunt (director)|Gordon Hunt]], he asked her to audition for a recurring role as Gloria in ''[[Richie Rich (1980 TV series)|Richie Rich]]''. She received the part, and later worked with Hunt on several other projects. At the end of 1980, Cartwright signed with a talent agency and landed a lead role in a pilot for a [[sitcom]] called ''In Trouble''. Cartwright described the show as "forgettable, but it jump-started my on-camera career".<ref name=p25>Cartwright, pp. 23–25.</ref> She graduated from UCLA in 1981 with a degree in theater.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12253984 |title=Cartwright: It's Bearable Being Bart's Likeness |access-date=July 26, 2007 |author=Terry Gross Interview on "Fresh Air" (Interview confirms transfer to UCLA) |date=July 26, 2007 |publisher=[[National Public Radio]]}}</ref> During the summer, Cartwright worked with [[Jonathan Winters]] as part of an improvisation troupe at [[Kenyon College]] in [[Gambier, Ohio]].<ref name=p25 />

Returning to Los Angeles, Cartwright won the lead role in the television film ''[[Marian Rose White]]''. [[Janet Maslin]], a critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', described Cartwright as "a chubby, lumbering, slightly [[Strabismus|cross-eyed]] actress whose naturalness adds greatly to the film's impact".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE1D81138F93AA25752C0A964948260 |title=TV: 'Marian Rose White' in a mental institution |author=Maslin, Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 19, 1982 |access-date=February 7, 2009}}</ref> Cartwright replied by sending Maslin a letter insisting she was not cross-eyed, and included a photograph.<ref name="bartisagoodgirl">{{Cite news |title=Bart is a good girl at heart; the mischievous little boy, who brings his iconoclastic status to the big screen, is really a middle aged woman |work=[[Guelph Mercury]] |date=July 26, 2007 |author=New York Times News Service}}</ref> Later, Cartwright auditioned for the role of Ethel, a girl who becomes trapped in a cartoon world in the third segment of ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]''. She met with director [[Joe Dante]] and later described him as "a total cartoon buff, and once he took a look at my resume and noticed Daws Butler's name on it, we were off and running, sharing anecdotes about Daws and animation. After about twenty minutes, he said, 'considering your background, I don't see how I could cast anyone ''but'' you in this part!{{' "}}<ref name="p27" /> It was her first role in a feature film.<ref name="p27">Cartwright, pp. 26–27.</ref> The segment was based on ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' television series episode "[[It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)|It's a Good Life]]", which was later parodied in ''The Simpsons'' episode "[[Treehouse of Horror II]]" (1991).<ref>Groening, Matt; [[Al Jean|Jean, Al]]; [[Mike Reiss|Reiss, Mike]]; [[Dan Castellaneta|Castellaneta, Dan]]; [[Jeff Martin (writer)|Martin, Jeff]]; [[Jim Reardon|Reardon, Jim]]. (2003). Commentary for "[[Treehouse of Horror II]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>

Cartwright continued to do voice work for projects including ''[[Pound Puppies (1986 TV series)|Pound Puppies]]'', ''[[Popeye and Son]]'', ''[[Snorks]]'', ''[[My Little Pony (TV series)|My Little Pony]]'' and ''[[Saturday Supercade]]''.<ref name=p28>Cartwright, pp. 27–28.</ref> She joined a "[[Dubbing (filmmaking)|loop group]]", and recorded vocals for characters in the background of films, although in most cases the sound was turned down so that very little of her voice was heard. She did minor voice-over work for several films, including ''[[The Clan of the Cave Bear (film)|The Clan of the Cave Bear]]'' (1986), ''[[Silverado (film)|Silverado]]'' (1985), ''[[Sixteen Candles]]'' (1984), ''[[Back to the Future Part II]]'', and ''[[The Color Purple (1985 film)|The Color Purple]]'' (1985).<ref name=p29>Cartwright, p. 29.</ref> Cartwright also voiced a shoe that was "dipped" in acid in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' (1988), describing it as her first "off-screen death scene",<ref name=p29 /> and worked to correctly convey the emotion involved.<ref name="My Boy" />

{{quote box
|width=30em |bgcolor=transparent |align=left |quote=Once I had graduated from UCLA, I decided that as long as I was an actress, I was going to find related work in the industry. There were plenty of opportunities. And fortunately, I am just pushy enough to find and get myself in touch with those who can provide such opportunities. |salign=right |source=—Nancy Cartwright, ''My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy''<ref name=p28 />}}

In 1985, she auditioned for a guest spot as Cynthia in ''[[Cheers]]''. The audition called for her to say her line and walk off the set. Cartwright decided to take a chance on being different and continued walking, leaving the building and returning home. The production crew was confused, but she received the part.<ref name=p29 /> In search of more training as an actress, Cartwright joined a class taught by Hollywood coach [[Milton Katselas]]. He recommended that Cartwright study ''[[La Strada]]'', a 1956 Italian film starring [[Giulietta Masina]] and directed by [[Federico Fellini]]. She began performing "every imaginable scene" from ''La Strada'' in her class and spent several months trying to secure the rights to produce a stage adaptation.<ref name="p30" /> She visited Italy with the intention of meeting Fellini and requesting his permission in person. Although they never met, Cartwright kept a journal of the trip and later wrote a one-woman play called ''In Search of Fellini'', partially based on her voyage.<ref name="p30">Cartwright, pp. 30–33.</ref> The play was co-written by Peter Kjenaas, and Cartwright won a [[Drama-Logue Award]] after performing it in Los Angeles in 1995. In a 1998 interview, she stated her intention to make it into a feature film,<ref name="Logue">{{Cite news |title=Voicing her ambitions&nbsp;— The Kettering native stretches her wings&nbsp;— from the sounds of Bart Simpson to producing films |work=[[Dayton Daily News]] |author=Hopkins, Tom |date=April 27, 1998}}</ref> which she [[In Search of Fellini|succeeded in doing in 2017]].<ref name="nyt-fellini"/>