Nancy Cartwright, Voice of Bart Simpson, Hosts Charity Poker Event

by Justin West

You know her voice... one of them, anyway. Nancy Cartwright has been gracing screens both small and large for decades now, breathing life into the voice of one of the most recognizable animated characters of all time: Bart Simpson.

Anyone who's a fan of The Simpsons can tell you that while Bart Simpson might get into his fair share of trouble, deep down inside he means well. Nancy Cartwright is just as well-meaning, and proved as much in late September when she opened up her home for her second annual "Monte Carlo Night."

Nancy's goal in welcoming celebrities, professional poker players, and even the general public into her San Fernando Valley home, was to benefit the Devonshire PALS (Police Activities League Supporters) Youth Center for at-risk children. The land has already been purchased but the group needs a little extra support from the community before ground can be broken, and the charity poker tournament was just one of the activities designed to make that happen.

Numerous professional poker players showed up for the night's festivities, including such notable players as Todd Brunson, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Jamie Gold, Sammy Farha, and even Poker Pages' own Kenna James.

"It was really neat, at her home in Northridge," said Kenna. "It's almost like a farm within the city, had a lot of character to it as you'd expect. A lot of little playhouses and things. It was a compound, really. There were actually a lot of celebrities hanging around, people I didn't know. It was a great poker tournament, ran by Cheri Dokken from the Commerce Casino. My wife, Marsha, actually finished sixth in that event. I think they raised about $36,000 just from the poker tournament."

Nancy was incredibly excited about the event, which she also hosted in 2006 for the same cause.

"I'm so stoked about this," said Nancy before the event took place. "Last year over 300 people showed up. This year we're expecting more than 500. Annie Van Bebber of http://www.PokerCares.com has been a great help and inspiration. I know it's going to be a lot of fun for everyone. There's so much going on. It's like a great big party at my home. Not only do guests get to play all kinds of games, but also there'll be an auction with some really cool stuff from the entertainment industry - including The Simpsons."

Justin: So why do you think people are so drawn to charity poker events?

Nancy: I think people like to play games. Of course, more people are going to be able to play poker than, say, ride ATVs or something. Also, there's this connection between pro poker players and celebrities in general. There are a lot of celebrities that play poker as well. I've got a lot of friends, not just in the poker world but a lot of friends that work on camera, that are really into playing poker.

Justin: I read that a lot of folks that weren't able to make it to the event actually ended up sending in a contribution after the fact.

Nancy: They still are! I'm working on a show with Sally Struthers right now called "Betsy's Kindergarten," an animated show airing on PBS in January, in which we're both leads. She wrote me a healthy check for this thing. She wasn't there, it was after the event, but she said, "Hey, I missed out on it but I wanted you to have this." Very sweet!

Justin: You said something that was very true - a lot of celebrities are becoming involved in poker. I even managed to sweat Sam Simon, co-creator of the Simpsons, during the World Series of Poker and he did quite well for himself!

Nancy: Oh, yeah! I heard he's a good player. I haven't seen him in years, actually, but I know he's involved in a non-profit of his own. The one thing I heard a lot of people there saying is that there are a lot of poker-related fund raisers, but they'd never been to anything like this before. It's kind of a first. In fact, Todd Brunson was confirmed as doing it just a couple of hours before.

(Author's Note: I have it on authority from Annie Van Bebber from PokerCares, that Todd had been under the impression the event was going in Las Vegas, but found out last minute it was at Nancy's home in California. Shocked, it was too late for him to grab a flight, so Todd hopped in his car and made the three hour drive all the way there. Now, that's pretty cool.)

Justin: So, tell me about the whole night. I'm curious to get your take on how the night went, along with the auction...

Nancy: Well, just to give you an idea, the event was to be on a Saturday night and we started setting up on Monday. We had a stage, we had a dance floor, we had wild animals, a magician, a full margarita bar, cigar bar with cognac. That was all donated! What made it so special is that there were a lot of things to do for people that don't play poker, but just like to come to a party.

My house is on one acre... used to be a farm. It used to be 27 acres of alfalfa, when Lucille Ball was the honorary mayor. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz used to live out here, and Maxene Andrews used to live in this house back in the 60's. So there's kind of a bit of history behind the space itself.

Tom Kenny, who's the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants and a dear friend, was the emcee. He did it last year and said he'd do it every year, just had a great time. It was a lot of fun, especially when SpongeBob and Bart Simpson started getting into a little banter on stage.

We did a live auction, too. These two gals heard about it. I was on a local radio station and they had heard about it through that one fifteen minute interview that I did, both drove up with their husbands and ended up getting in a bidding war on a two-person pass to come to The Simpsons to attend a live table reading, which is a rehearsal for the script that will be recorded three or four days later. They got into a healthy battle of bids and got it up to $11,500! Finally, I said, "I'm gonna stop. For $10,000 each I'll give it to both of you." The crowd absolutely flipped out. Everybody was just screaming! It was so exciting, because it started out at $1,500, to go to $11,500, and we ended up selling two of them for a total of $20,000. That was one of the best parts of the evening.

Justin: This is kind of off-topic, but do you ever get tired of people asking you to do the voice of Bart Simpson?

Nancy: No! Not really, 'cause I'll just say (as Bart), "No way, man!" and everybody laughs.

Justin: Well, I have to say it's quite cool to talk to you since I've been watching The Simpsons for almost two decades. What's amazing is that it doesn't look like the show is slowing down any time soon...

Nancy: Well I actually went into the studio today to work on some things since I've been out of town. Right now, the Writer's Guild and the producers are in a battle over this contract which is up on November 1, so there's a little bit of anxiety, I think. We don't have that many shows left, so we'll finish our season. We'll see what happens with that. But 19 years is certainly amazing. When the movie came out it put a new wind underneath the TV show. They're totally different departments, but they feed off of each other and help each other. I think because the movie did $550 Million in six weeks, and the DVD hasn't even been released yet, I'm sure we'll top $1 Billion when the DVD comes out.

(Author's Note: That anxiety proved to be correct, as the Writer's Guild is currently on strike. Talks have resumed to try and iron it out, but a lot of shows and films have been affected. No writers means no shows!)

Justin: Now that you've done Monte Carlo Night for a second year, are there plans for a third?

Nancy: Oh, of course! We're not done raising the money, yet. We're close. We're getting closer, within spitting distance. I was actually surprised we didn't do it. I thought for sure we were going to do it this time.

Justin: Seeing as how successful this has been, do you see doing it again to benefit a different charity?

Nancy: Another charity? I have a non-profit. I'll do it, but it won't be the same. It'll be smaller, more scaled back. I have a non profit organization called Happy House that promotes building better families. In fact, we're sending out about a million of these "Way to Happiness" books to every home in the San Fernando Valley. We want to do a poker tournament for that, but we haven't set a date yet for it.

Justin: So, celebrities are seeming to get more involved with cards, as you said, but how about you? Will we be seeing you making an appearance at the World Series of Poker any time soon?

Nancy: Ack! No, I don't think that will happen. I have a blast just hosting the parties. I'll just wear my hat as a host and honorary mayor. I like being the honorary mayor of the entire North San Fernando Valley.

Justin: What does that mean, exactly? To be the honorary mayor?

Nancy: Well, if I wasn't the honorary mayor I'd have to be something like the queen. (chuckling) Or, you know, Ambassador of Love or something like that. It's a PR kind of a thing, but I take it seriously. I love what we're doing here, and I think putting this youth center in... we need it desperately. Every community needs something like this. We provide after-school programming and tutoring, helping these kids gets some guidance where they're not quite getting it at home. Plus, we take them on field trips and do activities like boxing and cheer leading and soccer, taking them to the mountains or to the beach, letting them carve pumpkins... these kids don't even get their birthdays celebrated so every month we do a birthday for all the kids in that month, go to the store and buy a bunch of stuff and they're thrilled! They're not normally acknowledged, so they're thrilled to get that kind of attention.

I don't know, at this point I just had a birthday. I'm five Bart's worth. Probably a little surprising for people to hear that but I'm proud of it, proud of my age and what I've done, and I'm having a great time with it.

Justin: Thanks so much for your time, I just have one last question. There are certain parts of the country, Texas included, where poker may not be legal. But charitable poker, wherein the goal is to benefit a great cause, is surprisingly taking heat as well. What do you have to say about that?

Nancy: I think that's too bad. It's a great opportunity for people in the community, and I know pro poker players love doing this. They were so generous. They came all the way from Las Vegas. One guy came from Boston because he wanted to play, to play a fun game for a really good cause. My point of view is that if it's helping someone else, what difference does it make? Nobody's making money off of this except for the kids. They're the ones that benefit and that's the whole idea.

Justin: Seems to me that people just see that it's gambling.

Nancy: Well, it's a little myopic, to be honest with you. For those of us that see the bigger picture of what's happening on the planet, it's a problem. People need help, and this provides a facility that will help thousands of kids over the years. Tens of thousands of kids over the years, in fact. People should be able to see beyond the fact that it's gambling... it's professional poker player playing, but it's for a good cause!

(Author's Note: Many thanks go out to Annie Van Bebber of PokerCares.com for her continued support of charitable poker, and for helping me snag what proved to be one of my most memorable interviews.)

More Interviews

Questions or comments on this article? Click here to send a letter to the editors

Previous Article | Article Listing | Next Article

---

Justin West played poker since the age of 17, he spent more than a year earning a living on the green felt; a modest living, to be sure, but a living nonetheless. His aim was at one point to win the WSOP main event, thus causing Hell to freeze over. However, given his penchant for sin and his extreme dislike of cold weather, Justin has put that dream to rest.