Pamela Hayden, the actor behind beloved Simpsons character Milhouse, has announced her retirement from the show after 35 years and almost 700 episodes.
“The time has come for me to hang up my microphone,” Hayden, 70, said in a statement on Wednesday. “It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show … I’ll always have a special place in my heart for that blue-haired 10-year-old boy with glasses.”
Hayden has been a mainstay on The Simpsons since it premiered in 1989, playing Bart’s best friend Milhouse Van Housen as well as school bully Jimbo Jones, Ned Flanders’ sons Rod and Todd, Chief Wiggum’s wife Sarah and Lisa’s friend Janey Powell. But as she said in a video tribute shared by the show, Milhouse was her “main guy”.
He was also a fan favourite: “People would come up to me and they quote Milhouse lines,” Hayden said in the video, which included clips of the character over the years.
“Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield. She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her,” said Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
Named after former US president Richard Milhous Nixon, Milhouse first appeared in a Butterfingers commercial when The Simpsons was a regular segment on The Tracey Ullman Show, and became a key character when the show debuted as a half-hour series.
The only child of Kirk and Luann Van Houten, Milhouse is smart, shy and somewhat gullible – and consequently often led astray by best friend Bart, and targeted by bullies.
“People are always saying what a nerd he is, but one thing that I love about Millhouse is he’s always getting knocked down, but he keeps getting up,” Hayden said in the show’s video tribute. “I love the little guy. It’s this wonderful analogy for life.”
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Episodes in which his character shines include Radioactive Man, which follows Milhouse’s misadventures when he’s cast as “Fallout Boy”, Radioactive Man’s sidekick, in an upcoming film; and Bart Sells His Soul, in which Milhouse dares his friend to sell his soul and then torments him when he takes the bait.
Hayden, whose acting credits outside of the show include Lloyd in Space and Pound Puppies and video games such as Lego Dimensions, said she is retiring from The Simpsons “to pursue other creative outlets”.
Her final episode will be Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes, airing 24 November.
The show will begin casting for Hayden’s characters in the near future.