Marcia Karen Wallace

Marcia Karen Wallace (November 1, 1942 – October 25, 2013)

She is perhaps best known for her roles as receptionist Carol Kester on the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, and as the voice of elementary school teacher Edna Krabappel on the animated series The Simpsons, for which she won an Emmy in 1992. Wallace was known for her tall frame, red hair, and distinctive laugh. She had a career spanning six decades in TV, in film, and on stage. A frequent guest on The Merv Griffin Show, she was personally recruited for the soon-to-appear network sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, in a role created especially for her. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985, she became a cancer activist. When The Bob Newhart Show ended in 1978, Wallace began three decades of television appearances as a game show panelist, on shows such as Hollywood Squares, Password Plus and its 1980s spin-off, Super Password, Whew!, the 1980s version of Crosswits, Hot Potato, Body Language, The $25,000 Pyramid, Double Talk, Win, Lose or Draw, To Tell the Truth, and Match Game,and "Acting Crazy". She was also on special celebrity episodes of the Ray Combs version of Family Feud and the Jim Perry version of Card Sharks. In April 2008, she appeared on the interactive show GSN Live. She also appeared on ALF, Full House, Murphy Brown, and The Brady Bunch, and from 1990 until her death was on The Simpsons as Edna Krabappel. In 1992 she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the episode Bart the Lover.

On January 27, 2007, Wallace won the Gilda Radner Courage Award from Roswell Park Cancer Institute for helping educate Americans about the importance of early cancer detection and inspiring others through her 20 years as a breast cancer survivor. Marcia Wallace died from pneumonia and sepsis on October 25, 2013, although breast cancer was also listed as a cause.