Béatrice Picard says goodbye to Marge Simpson

“Hoooomer! For the majority of Quebecers, Marge Simpson is her. More than the scratchy voice: the intonations, the tone, the hesitations – “mmmh” –, the mixture of authority and affection towards her silly husband and her three children. After 33 seasons of giving life to the most famous mother of the small screen, Béatrice Picard bows out.

“It was time for me to leave the role before the role left me”, says the actress in an interview with The Press as she has just completed the dubbing of the last episode of the next season. A bouquet of flowers was given to him in the Difuze studio to mark the occasion.

“I will be 94 years old, underlines the doyenne of the distribution of quebec. I think I’m getting a little old to do Marge. The head of the family with the dizzying blue bun, frozen in time, has not yet reached her forties, according to various clues left in the series by Matt Groening, of which Fox broadcasts the 34^e season in the United States.

Béatrice Picard lends her vocal cords to Marjorie Jacqueline Simpson since the start of the satirical series camped in Springfield, in 1989. In comparison, her American counterpart, actress Julie Kavner, is 72 years old, while the French voice actress, Véronique Augereau, shows mid-sixties.

Not inclined to nostalgia, the Quebec actress affirms that Marge Simpson, born Bouvier, will have been “a character like any other” in her long career. However, it is obvious, in particular from reading the comments published on social networks on Wednesday, that his interpreter will not have been “a voice like any other” for a whole generation of followers of the yellow-skinned family, at the image of the laughter it provokes.

“Today, a page, even a chapter, of the history of Quebec dubbing is turned”, for example wrote on Facebook Guy-Antoine St-Cyr, author in humor and “finished fan” of The Simpsons. “Thank you to Béatrice Picard for rocking, with her hoarse voice, my whole life. It’s a well-deserved retirement. »

Let’s insist a little: doesn’t the matriarch Simpson have some points in common with the one who gave her voice for more than 30 years? “She is a woman who has a lot of influence over the rest of the family because she is the chief organizer, ends up dropping Béatrice Picard. Maybe it’s the small side that looks like me. »

A different context

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Béatrice Picard admits that she has lost a little pleasure in her work as a voice actress, once “very pleasant”. “It got a little more complicated. Before, we worked as a team, which I really liked, whereas now, we are all alone in the studio to say our lines. »

It should be remembered that the Quebec team of simpsons has lost some veterans in recent years. Hubert Gagnon, who played Homer for 27 years, retired in 2017. He died of cancer three years later.

The detestable Mr. Burns meanwhile had to redefine himself after his performer from 1989 to 2019, Edgar Fruitier, was prosecuted for indecent assault on a minor. He was found guilty in July 2020.

It is however without drama that Marc Labrèche passed the torch of Krusty the clown to Gilbert Lachance in 2007.

Béatrice Picard reassures the nostalgic: the future of Marge Simpson is in good hands. “The person who will replace me is to be mistaken,” she said. You won’t even notice the difference. She works very, very, very well. »

It is the actress Chantal Baril, interpreter of Milhouse, who has been appointed to replace Béatrice Picard.

The 93-year-old actress is working on new projects. “It’s my retirement from Marge, but not from Béatrice”, assures the one who, like the character of Marjorie Bouvier, multiplies her snubs as time goes by.