Marcia Wallace, star on Newhart show and The Simpsons, dies

[KentB3]

Marcia Wallace, star on Newhart show and The Simpsons, dies

(CNN) -- Marcia Wallace, whose four-decade television career included playing the secretary on "The Bob Newhart Show" and Bart's fourth-grade teacher on "The Simpsons," has died, her agent said Saturday.

Wallace was 70, according to imdb.com. Her cause of death were not immediately confirmed.

Wallace starred for six seasons as Carol Kester on "The Bob Newhart Show" in the 1970s and reprised the role in the 1990s on "Murphy Brown."

But it was her Emmy-winning role as Edna Krabappel, Bart Simpson's teacher with the snarky laugh, that may have earned her the most fame in recent years. It was a part she held since the show's premiere in 1990.

"I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace," executive producer Al Jean of "The Simpsons" said in a statement. "She was beloved by all at 'The Simpsons' and we intend to retire her irreplaceable character."

Jean said rumors that the show had already planned to retire Wallace's character are not true, he added.

"Marcia's passing is unrelated and again, a terrible loss for all who had the pleasure of knowing her," Jean said.

Wallace was a regular guest star on a host of popular TV shows in the 1970s and 1980s, from "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" to "Gimme a Break!", "ALF," "Night Court," "Charles in Charge" and "Magnum, P.I."

She was also a mainstay of TV game shows such "The Hollywood Squares," "Password" and "The (New) $25,000 Pyramid" and starred in numerous stage productions.

In recent years, Wallace also advocated for awareness of breast cancer, a disease she battled herself. Her 2004 book, "Don't Look Back, We're Not Going That Way," in part chronicled her fight with breast cancer.
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[NiarrNDisney]

It's very sad I just read this on my home page news feed! I wonder if they will be able o replace her

 

[luv]

 

[Goofyernmost]

Those at my age understand that it's getting to be more and more a struggle to understand why all those young people that we watched on TV for years are now looking terribly old or are dead. I was watching a promo on TV the other day for the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. I loved those shows and now all I can do, as each star is highlighted, is say to my self.. he's dead, he's dead, she's dead, those two are dead, etc. Every once in a while, I will see someone that isn't dead yet and feel a need to celebrate.

 

[Nemo14]

Those at my age understand that it's getting to be more and more a struggle to understand why all those young people that we watched on TV for years are now looking terribly old or are dead. I was watching a promo on TV the other day for the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. I loved those shows and now all I can do, as each star is highlighted, is say to my self.. he's dead, he's dead, she's dead, those two are dead, etc. Every once in a while, I will see someone that isn't dead yet and feel a need to celebrate.

My husband and I are the same way, although sometimes when an older celebrity dies, one of us will say, "Gee I thought he died a long time ago".

Anyway, RIP Marcia Wallace - you'll always be "Carol" to us.

 

[afar28]

R.I.P

 

[luv]

My father used to do that - when they'd show older films, as people came on the screen, he'd say, "Dead...dead...dead."

My mother cried when Dean Martin died. She was cooking, so it had to be Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I hope I live to be old enough that I watch other people of my generation kicking off. Beats the alternative!

 

[acishere]

A few of Edna Krabappel's "Ha!" lines from the last 20 plus years The Simpsons have been on:

 

[prberk]

Those at my age understand that it's getting to be more and more a struggle to understand why all those young people that we watched on TV for years are now looking terribly old or are dead. I was watching a promo on TV the other day for the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. I loved those shows and now all I can do, as each star is highlighted, is say to my self.. he's dead, he's dead, she's dead, those two are dead, etc. Every once in a while, I will see someone that isn't dead yet and feel a need to celebrate.

My husband and I are the same way, although sometimes when an older celebrity dies, one of us will say, "Gee I thought he died a long time ago".

Anyway, RIP Marcia Wallace - you'll always be "Carol" to us.

My father used to do that - when they'd show older films, as people came on the screen, he'd say, "Dead...dead...dead."

My mother cried when Dean Martin died. She was cooking, so it had to be Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I hope I live to be old enough that I watch other people of my generation kicking off. Beats the alternative!

Well, it is certainly one thing that we all have in common: we will all meet our maker one day, and no one knows when. I do think that television and movies have made things a little different and more communal than for prior generations. But it also accents the fact that even fame is fleeting over time. When people like Miley Cyrus get on TV and literally claim that they have to make lasting impression (by whatever means), it is sobering to note that over time, all fame fades and we all pass away (at least from this earth). To what extent we leave a legacy here, I would certainly like to leave one more like Marcia's (good, full of laughter, and loving) than as a pop tart for sale to the lowest bidder.

Marcia Wallace was in good company, too. I think of Carol Burnett, Vicky Lawrence, Bob Hope, Bob Newhart, Lucille Ball, Jimmy Steward, Dick Van , and even John Wayne, as good-hearted people who brought good character and usually fun to their roles on TV, and ultimately to our lives. There are still some doing that today (Michael J. Fox, for example), but it seems more rare.

By the way, look her up on some of her Match Game and other game show stints on YouTube. She was fun.

We will miss her.