Maggie Roswell
Born	Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Occupations	Actress comedian writer producer
Years active	1973–present
Spouse	Hal Rayle ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	1

Maggie Roswell is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer fromLos Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on theFox network animated television seriesThe Simpsons, in which she has played recurring characters such asMaude Flanders,Helen Lovejoy,Miss Hoover, andLuann Van Houten, as well as several minor characters. This work has earned her anAnnie Award nomination.

Roswell made her acting break-through in the 1980s with appearances in films such asMidnight Madness (1980),Lost in America (1985), andPretty in Pink (1986), and guest appearances on television shows such asRemington Steele,Masquerade, andHappy Days. She appeared frequently in the sketch comedyThe Tim Conway Show from 1980 to 1981, and did voice acting for a few animated films and television shows. Roswell also performed in some theater plays, including one in 1988 directed byJulia Sweeney.

In 1989, Roswell was hired for thefirst season ofThe Simpsons. She played a few minor characters until she became a regular cast member with the introduction of Maude Flanders in thesecond season. In 1994, Roswell and her husbandHal Rayle moved from Los Angeles toDenver to raise their daughter. Together they established the Roswell 'n' Rayle Company, creating and voicing advertisements for companies. Because of her move to Denver, Roswell had to travel to Los Angeles twice a week to tapeThe Simpsons. This ultimately led to her requesting a pay raise in 1999; however, Fox refused to offer her the amount she wanted so she quit the show. Roswell returned toThe Simpsons in 2002 after reaching a deal to record her lines from her Denver home.

Roswell was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.^[1][2] After going to Catholic school andLos Angeles City College, she began a career in acting.^[2] In the 1970s, she made some guest appearances on television shows such asM*A*S*H,^[3][4] but she did not gain her first big acting roles until the 1980s. In the 1980 filmMidnight Madness, she played a character that leads a group ofsorority sisters who are participating in a college puzzle solving race.^[5] Roswell also starred in the sketch comedyThe Tim Conway Show in 1980 and 1981.^[6][7] She appeared in the filmLost in America (1985) as the character Patty,^[8][9] and she had a supporting role in the filmPretty in Pink (1986).^[10] She also acted in the two-part television filmThe Deliberate Stranger.^[11] In addition, Roswell played some minor roles in television shows in the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s,^[3] including guest appearances onRemington Steele (1983),^[12]Masquerade (1984),^[13]Happy Days (1984),Murphy Brown (1993), andQuantum Leap (1993).^[3] She was offered a chance to replaceGilda Radner onSaturday Night Live, but turned down the offer when her agent told her "the show wasn't going anywhere."^[10]

Roswell has also worked on stage. In 1986 she appeared in improvisatory shows directed byPaul Sills atLamb's Theatre, in which the actors were given characters and situations by the audience members.^[14][15] In 1988, she had a role inJulia Sweeney's playMea's Big Apology at Groundling Theatre in Los Angeles.^[16] She played Eunice, a cynical woman who works at a malpractice insurance company and is a colleague to the main character. The company people do everything they can to dismiss her because they do not want to pay her retirement benefits, which are about to take effect.^[17] Roswell reprised this role in a 1992 revival of the play, also at Groundling Theatre.^[17]

In addition to herlive action roles, Roswell did somevoice acting in animated films and shows,^[3] including the voice of Teegra inFire and Ice from 1983.^[18] This led to her being hired on the animated television seriesThe Simpsons in 1989. Her first appearance was in theseason one episode "Homer's Night Out", in which she voiced the characterPrincess Kashmir (a belly dancer who seducesHomer).^[10] Out of the total thirteen episodes of the first season, Roswell appeared in four; however, they were only minor roles. Roswell did not become a regular cast member until the middle of the second season in the episode "Dead Putting Society" (1990), with the introduction ofMaude Flanders (neighbor to theSimpson family and the loving wife ofNed Flanders).^[3] Roswell went on to voice other recurring characters on the show, such asHelen Lovejoy (the reverend's wife),Miss Hoover (an elementary school teacher),^[10] andLuann Van Houten (the mother of Bart's best friend, Milhouse),^[19] as well as several more one-time characters and background characters.^[3] FellowSimpsons cast memberNancy Cartwright wrote in her autobiography that "Maggie Roswell has been blessed with a skill in creating one of the hardest things to create: the 'normal sound,' whatever that is. So she can easily slip into the gal next door or any number of assorted reporters, medical students, jury members, accountants, scientists and moms."^[3]

Roswell was nominated for anEmmy Award for her work onThe Simpsons.^[10] She also received a 1997Annie Award nomination in the category "Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting by a Female Performer in a TV Production" for her role as Shary Bobbins in the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", but lost toJune Foray.^[20]

Roswell began writing, producing, and/or voicing advertisements for companies.^[10][21] She and her spouse established "The Roswell 'n' Rayle Company" for this purpose, and built a recording studio in their basement.^[1][10] In 1994, they did radio advertisements in Denver forBurger King, Christy Sports, and an insect exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.^[10] The same year, Roswell provided her voice forCampbell's Soup andPontiac commercials as part of their business.^[10] The company is still active as of 2010.^[22] They are now also providing comedic ring tones.^[23]

In 1997, Roswell appeared in the filmSwitchback alongsideDanny Glover andDennis Quaid.^[24]

Roswell leftThe Simpsons in spring 1999 after a pay dispute withFox Broadcasting Company, which airsThe Simpsons.^[1][3] The dispute was not revealed to the press at first; Fox originally reported that she decided to quit only because she was tired of flying between Denver and Los Angeles for the recording sessions.^[25][26][27] Then Roswell announced that she had asked for a raise, not only because she was tired of the traveling, but because of the increasing cost of flight tickets.^[1][25][28] Roswell was paid $1,500 to $2,000 per episode during the three seasons before she left, and she asked Fox for a raise to $6,000 per episode. However, Fox only offered her a $150 raise, which did not even cover the travel costs, so she decided to quit.^[28] She toldThe Denver Post that "they offered me a $150 raise. I mean, that's lint in Fox's pocket. But Fox wanted to prove a point, I guess. I was flying myself back and forth from Denver to L.A. It was exhausting. I loved doing the show and they thought that I would come back. But now I'm busy doing other things."^[29] She further added that "I was part of the backbone ofThe Simpsons and I don't think the money I asked for was exorbitant. I wasn't asking for what other cast members make. I was just trying to recoup all the costs I had in travel. If they'd flown me in, I'd still be working."^[30] At that point, the six main cast members of the show were paid $125,000 per episode.^[31][32] As a result of Roswell's departure,Marcia Mitzman Gaven was hired to voice her characters,^[33] with Maude Flanders killed off in the episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily".^[3][29][30]

Roswell returned toThe Simpsons in 2002 in the season premiere of thefourteenth season, in which Maude made an appearance as a ghost.^[24][34][35] She reached a deal with Fox to record her lines from her Denver home,^[35] the dispute ended,^[24] and Roswell has remained on the show. She also appeared as Helen Lovejoy in the filmThe Simpsons Movie (2007).^[36] She attended the gala premiere together with her daughter, who was fourteen years old at the time. Roswell toldThe Denver Post that she was surprised she was given two tickets; "Everybody in Hollywood is killing to get their kid there. My daughter's big thrill is to meet [the band]Green Day," which also appeared in the film.^[36]

In 2004, Roswell had a minor role in the filmSilver City.^[37] In 2009, she starred in the playBunny Bunny: Gilda Radner, a Sort of Romantic Comedy atAvenue Theater in Denver. It opened in May of that year. The play recounted events in the career of actressGilda Radner, who Roswell played, from 1975 (the start ofSaturday Night Live) to her death in 1989.^[38]

Roswell enjoys singing. On February 7, 1999, she debuted as anightclub singer at the Denver Chop House & Brewery, where she performed on behalf of the homelessness charity Family Homestead.^[39][40] In June 2003, she sang at Denver's Rattlebrain Theatre on Sunday nights with The Sirens.^[35]

Roswell met fellow voice actorHal Rayle in 1986, and they married in 1987.^[41] He had done roles such asthe Predator inPredator 2, the ghoulies inGhoulies II, andMarvin the Martian inAir Jordan commercials.^[10] They moved from Los Angeles toDenver, Colorado, in June 1994 to raise their adopted daughter, who was born in 1993.^[10] Between March and November every year,^[42] when episodes ofThe Simpsons were being recorded, Roswell had to fly back to Los Angeles twice a week to attend thetable reads and the recording sessions. In an article about her and her husband's move, Ricky Lopes ofRocky Mountain News wrote: "WhenThe Simpsons is taping, she goes to Los Angeles every Friday morning for the first reading, flies back that afternoon, flies back Sunday to tape the show Monday and flies back home that night."^[10] Roswell said she "got the idea for the way Helen Lovejoy says 'B-bye, b-bye, b-bye,' to everyone when they leave the church from the way the flight attendants say it when you get off the plane."^[10]

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