Mary Kay Bergman - Biography

Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999) was an American voice actress and animation voice over teacher, who was the lead female voice actress on South Park from the show's 1997 debut until her death and was best known as the official voice of Snow White for the Walt Disney Company starting in 1989 with the Snow White Book-on-Tape. Bergman's casting as Snow White marked her transition from aspiring voice actress to full time actress.

Early life

Bergman was born to Jewish parents in Los Angeles, California growing up on North Gower Street around the corner from the home of Adriana Caselotti, the original voice of Snow White. At an early age, she found herself drawn to fantasy entertainment ranging from science fiction to anything Disney. She was always proud of the fact that as a child she and her mother wrote letters to NBC to help keep the original Star Trek on the air for a third season. With regard to Disney, she regularly visited Disneyland and was once quoted as saying, "My one regret is that I never got to meet Walt Disney."

Career

Bergman was known for voicing most of the female characters in animated series such as Fox Kids' The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, in which she played a dog named Mitzy and also a number of other characters. She also voiced characters for South Park and the 1999 feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Her characters included Liane Cartman, Sheila Broflovski, Shelly Marsh, Sharon Marsh, Mrs. McCormick and Wendy Testaburger. Originally, Bergman was credited on South Park as Shannen Cassidy out of concerns regarding possible conflicts with her continued work as Disney's official Snow White voice. The South Park episode "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" was dedicated to her, as was the episode "Starvin' Marvin in Space," the first episode to air after her death.

Another large role was her voice work in Captain Planet and the Planeteers as Dr. Blight for five seasons with the show. She did the voice of Arista in the Little Mermaid TV series.

Bergman's other voice credits included over 400 television commercials, including the voice of Mrs. Butterworth in Mrs. Butterworth's syrup commercials, as well as various Disney films - Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan and the posthumously released Toy Story 2 where she provided the yodeling for Joan Cusack's Jessie The Yodeling Cowgirl as well the voice of Jessie (both speaking and yodeling) for the entire line of Toy Story 2 talking toys and games. Video games include The Curse of Monkey Island and the English version of Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Timmy Turner in Oh Yeah! Cartoons, episodes of The Fairly OddParents (when the pilot episodes were aired as actual episodes in 2001, Bergman's voice was overdubbed by Tara Strong) and several female voices in The Tick animated series. She also contributed vocals to the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi", alongside Tress MacNeille. According to the IMDb, her final film role was in Balto II: Wolf Quest.

Bergman also carried on the Scooby Doo character Daphne Blake in the following movies: Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island in 1998, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost in 1999 and Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders in 2000, this last one being a posthumous dedicatory to her.

Bergman's final recording session was as Snow White for a Disneyland radio commercial. Another of her last recording sessions was the voice for Timmy Turner for the Oh Yeah! Cartoons short, "The Temp!".

Death

Bergman had been suffering from bipolar disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, which she hid from her family, friends, and co-stars. Bergman committed suicide in her West Los Angeles, California apartment on November 11, 1999. She was 38 years old. Bergman's husband Dino Andrade, along with a friend, discovered her body and suicide note and later established the Mary Kay Bergman Memorial Fund, which contributes to the operation of the Suicide Prevention Center at the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills under a uniquely commissioned grave marker designed personally by her husband.

After Bergman's death, voice actresses Eliza Schneider (later April Stewart) and Mona Marshall took over her voice roles on South Park. Good friend Tara Strong also took over her voice role of Batgirl in Batman: The Animated Series (Bergman had previously voiced the character in the movie SubZero), as well as the role of Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents.

Personal life

With her husband, Dino Andrade, she enjoyed Star Trek conventions while continuing to visit Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris.

Bergman was a self-described "geek," as she was an avid fan of science-fiction, horror, and fantasy.

Bergman was also good friends and teacher/mentor to voice actress Grey DeLisle. Upon her death, DeLisle inherited Bergman's role of Daphne Blake from the Scooby Doo franchise.

Notes

External links

• Mary Kay Bergman Personal Site and Memorial
• CNN's Obituary