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Maggie Roswell is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer from Los Angeles. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network animated television series The Simpsons, in which she has played recurring characters such as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, and Luann Van Houten, as well as several minor characters. This work has earned her an Annie Award nomination.
Roswell made her acting break-through in the 1980s with appearances in films such as Midnight Madness (1980), Lost in America (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986), and guest appearances on television shows such as Remington Steele, Masquerade, and Happy Days. She appeared frequently in the sketch comedy The 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 by Julia Sweeney.
In 1989, Roswell was hired for the first season of The Simpsons. She played a few minor characters until she became a regular cast member with the introduction of Maude Flanders in the second season. In 1994, Roswell and her husband Hal Rayle moved from Los Angeles to Denver 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 tape The 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 to The Simpsons in 2002 after reaching a deal to record her lines from her Denver home.
Roswell has also worked on stage. In 1986 she appeared in improvisatory shows directed by Paul Sills at Lamb's Theatre, in which the actors were given characters and situations by the audience members. In 1988, she had a role in Julia Sweeney's play Mea's Big Apology at Groundling Theatre in Los Angeles. 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. Roswell reprised this role in a 1992 revival of the play, also at Groundling Theatre.
Roswell was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on The Simpsons. She also received a 1997 Annie 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 to June Foray.
Roswell began writing, producing, and/or voicing advertisements for companies. She and her spouse established "The Roswell 'n' Rayle Company" for this purpose, and built a recording studio in their basement. In 1994, they did radio advertisements in Denver for Burger King, Christy Sports, and an insect exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. The same year, Roswell provided her voice for Campbell's Soup and Pontiac commercials as part of their business. The company is still active as of 2010. They are now also providing comedic ring tones.
In 1997, Roswell appeared in the film Switchback alongside Danny Glover and Dennis Quaid.
Roswell left The Simpsons in spring 1999 after a pay dispute with Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs The Simpsons. 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. 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. 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. She told The 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." She further added that "I was part of the backbone of The 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." At that point, the six main cast members of the show were paid $125,000 per episode. As a result of Roswell's departure, Marcia Mitzman Gaven was hired to voice her characters, with Maude Flanders killed off in the episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily".
In 2004, Roswell had a minor role in the film Silver City. In 2009, she starred in the play Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner, a Sort of Romantic Comedy at Avenue Theater in Denver. It opened in May of that year. The play recounted events in the career of actress Gilda Radner, who Roswell played, from 1975 (the start of Saturday Night Live) to her death in 1989.
Roswell enjoys singing. On February 7, 1999, she debuted as a nightclub singer at the Denver Chop House & Brewery, where she performed on behalf of the homelessness charity Family Homestead. In June 2003, she sang at Denver's Rattlebrain Theatre on Sunday nights with The Sirens.
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| Short Film |
| Episode: "Love and the Secret Spouse" |
| Episode: "Kim" |
| Episode: "Heartbreak Keith" |
| Television pilot |
| Sketch comedy |
| Television pilot |
| Television film |
| Episode: "" |
| Episode: "Life Is the Tar Pits" |
| Television Film |
| Episode: "For Love or Money" |
| Episode: "Steele in the News" |
| Episode: "Five Days" |
| Episode: "Fonzie Moves Out" |
| Sketch Comedy |
| Episode: "Love and the Judge" |
| Television Miniseries |
| Episode: "Babes in the Woods" |
| Main Role |
| Episode: "Junior Gets a Job" |
| Episode: "The Testing" |
| Episode: "What Is This Thing Called Love?" |
| 3 Episodes |
| Episode: "The Megamite Adventure" |
| Animated television film |
| Episode: "Shoot to Kill" |
| Episode: "The Great Boldini" |
| Episode: "The Holland Tunnel of Love" |
| 290 Episodes |
| Episode: "My Dad Can Fix Anything" |
| Episode: "Hollywood Plucky" |
| Episode: "Rest in Pieces" |
| Episode: "Mach One for the Gipper" |
| Sketch Comedy |
| Episode: "Twenty-Four Hours" |
| Television film |
| 2 Episodes |
| Television film |
| Episode: "Stone Moan" |
| Episode: "Revenge of the Evil Leaper" |
| Episode: "Pilot" |
| Episode: "The Egg & I" |
| 2 Episodes |
| Episode: "Like Master, Like Mutt" |
| Episode: "Baloney & Kids" |
| Television Pilot |
| Hestia |
| Maude Flanders, Miss Hoover |
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