Before Nancy Cartwright was a star, the voice for Bart Simpson was a Friendly's waitress in Kettering

May 20—Kettering native Nancy Cartwright was in the news recently after the city announced that she is donating $100,000 to Rosewood Arts Center.

Cartwright is best known as the longtime voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons.

Here is a look at her time growing up in Dayton and how her career got started.

Growing up in Dayton

Cartwright was born in Dayton and attended Oakview Elementary, St. Charles Borromeo, Barnes Junior High and Fairmont West High School.

During a 2014 interview with the Dayton Daily News, she talked about some of her early memories.

"I loved school and made many friends. Very involved with gymnastics, marching band, orchestra, theater, speech. Lots of signs early on that foreshadowed my career," she said.

"I remember being very active with the Kettering Parks and Rec. Loved arts and crafts. Loved my neighborhood and I was surrounded by lots of playmates. Good times. Club Marinole was a godsend to my parents as we rode our bikes up Ackerman to spend the entire summer swimming and playing in the pool."

Cartwright credits attending Fairmont West High School and participating on the speech team for her success. A judge at a competition told her she had a unique voice and that she should do cartoons.

In a 2022 interview with the Dayton Daily News, Cartwright talked more about her hometown.

"Dayton is big in my heart," she said. "I love my roots in Kettering. I grew up in a supportive community and anything I wanted, I got by going to Kettering Fairmont West. I've come home several times, and this last time was very reassuring. It's changing and it's beautiful."

WING radio

Cartwright's first job was at Friendly's Ice Cream. It was while working there that she met Jim Bennett, President/General Manager of WING radio, who convinced her to work at the radio station the following summer.

She said it was one of the best decisions she ever made. Cartwright worked at the station for two summers.

"WING Radio kick-started my career by doing a bit with drive time deejay Ken Warren," she once said. "Also I was introduced to Dawson "Daws" Butler," who was well-known for voicing cartoon characters such as Huckleberry Hound, Elroy from "The Jetson's," and Yogi Bear, through a Warner Bros. Records contact at WING.

For WING she was doing everything from traffic to doing on-air bits with Steve Kirk.

She attended Ohio University after high school and later transferred to UCLA, where her career escalated.

From the newspaper archives

Going through the newspaper archives, the first discovered mention of Cartwright was in an August 1971 Journal Herald story about a Summer Youth Theater production of "The Counterfeit King."

The youngest and smallest member of the cast was a 13-year-old Cartwright, who played the giant, Thyroid B. Nimble. Reporter Walt McCaslin said she was "absolutely right when she sings: "If you judge at first site," "Every giant by height," "You may find your thoughts shaken," and "Gigantically mistaken."

A standalone story about Cartwright appeared in a 1979 edition of the Dayton Daily News.

Then 21 years old, she was living in California and attending the UCLA full-time. The story detailed her recent auditions and her friendship with her mentor, Daws Butler, whom she was visiting on a regular basis for training, since moving to the west coast.

Career takes off

Cartwright has appeared in more than 20 movies and 80 television programs and has written an autobiography, "My Life as a 10-Year Old Boy," as well as two one-woman plays.

Her first on screen acting role was in 1981 for a ABC comedy pilot, "In Trouble," that aired Aug. 24, 1981.

Her first television movie role was as the title character in "Marian Rose White," which aired on CBS in 1982.

In 1983, she landed a regular voice role as Gloria on the Saturday morning cartoon show Richie Rich.

She has voiced America's favorite troublemaker Bart Simpson for more than 34 years on "The Simpsons" The show made it debut on Fox in 1989.

In 2014, Cartwright was asked about some of the challenges of playing Bart and other characters.

"The biggest challenge in playing Bart (or any other character, for that matter) is maintaining a consistency in sound," she said. "If you watch any of the earlier shows you will hear slight inconsistencies in our characters as we were developing them. It is all a part of the process.

"What I enjoy most is the freedom the show gives me in terms of creative license. The writers like it when we improv because we are contributing to the overall effect that will create on the audience. Obviously I don't have any "say" as to which take they will use, but that doesn't stop me from contributing."

An audiobook called, "I'm Still a 10-Year-Old Boy," which is an update to her autobiography, was released in 2022.

Awards and recognition

Cartwright holds Emmy and Annie Awards for her accomplishments in animation.

She has been honored on the Dayton Region's Walk of Fame, located on the sidewalks on both sides of West Third Street between Shannon and Broadway Streets and on Williams Street where granite pavers commemorating the people who helped made the community great.

Cartwright is also a member of the Dayton Radio and Television Hall of Fame.

The Nancy Cartwright Painting and Drawing Studio

Cartwright's $100,000 donation is part of the Rosewood Reinvention and Renovation campaign.

"I am thrilled and deeply honored to contribute to this incredible art facility," Cartwright said in the announcement. "I truly believe that the expansion and survival of our culture depend on our unwavering support for both art and artists. The Rosewood Arts Center stands as a beacon for bringing hope and inspiring greatness in others."

Cartwright also will have her name permanently associated with Rosewood at "The Nancy Cartwright Painting and Drawing Studio."

Last year Kettering completed a $6.4 million renovation of Rosewood. It includes a 150-seat theater that is ADA accessible, and features new sound and lighting systems.

The renovation also involved studios for ceramic, glass, metals, and dance, plus a public meeting room and a multi-use classroom.