I was weirdly upset to read that Pam Heydon is stepping out of the soundproof booth.
When you answer your phone to hear a grown woman shouting “Wazzzuuuuup?” in the voice of a 10-year-old boy, you can be pretty sure that you’re talking with Pamela Hayden. For some 35 years, Hayden has played many distinctive characters on “The Simpsons,” the long-running animated Fox sitcom, but none with more nerdy exuberance than Milhouse Van Houten, the hapless but good-hearted best friend of Bart Simpson.
On Wednesday, however, Hayden announced that after having played Milhouse since before “The Simpsons” was even its own series (and having amassed a roster of other roles including the bully Jimbo Jones and Bart’s sweetly pious neighbor Rod Flanders), she has retired from voice acting. Her final “Simpsons” performances as Milhouse and Jimbo will be shown on Sunday night.
The piece which I’ve posted as a gift link, is a really lovely interview. I hadn’t realised how much I love this particular character until I read it. Why? Possibly because as Haydon explains, “Milhouse is somebody who’s having a rough time a lot of times, but he doesn’t take it personally. It doesn’t ruin his life. He wakes up the next day and he still feels like things are going to be better, even if they’re not.”
Definitely a life lesson there.