‘Simpsons’ Characters Who’ve Been Portrayed By Multiple Actors

When a show has been on the air as long as The Simpsons, it’s not all that shocking that some of the series’ hundreds of characters have been portrayed by multiple actors. Frankly, it’s more surprising how many Springfield residents have been played by just one voice for the last 35+ years. (One of the easiest ways to The Simpsons’ longevity into perspective: When the second Simpsons Movie comes out in 2027, it will have been 20 years since the last Simpsons Movie, which came out after The Simpsons had already been on the air for almost 20 years.)

Part of the secret of the show’s longevity is its unchanging premise. Unlike a live-action series about a suburban family, the characters in The Simpsons hardly ever age; with only a few notable exceptions, Springfield’s citizens remain basically the same as they were back in 1989.

But for those of us who don’t have yellow skin, four fingers, and weird squiggles for hair, time always marches forward. That includes the men and women who voice The Simpsons cast, who are now getting a bit up there in years. (Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, and many more, is now in his 80s.) While the show’s core cast has remained unchanged since 1989, several supporting members of its repertory company have passed away or retired.

Whenever that happens, The Simpsons’ producers typically react in one of two ways: They either retire a character completely out of respect to the performer’s death (as they did when the voice of Mrs. Krabappel, Marcia Wallace, passed way in 2013), or they find someone who can continue the character in a similar vein.

Below, you’ll find 12 examples of Simpsons characters who have been been portrayed by multiple actors, whether because of a death or retirement, or because the producers simply decided to make a change for one reason or another. The longer the show continues — and it’s already got that second movie in the works, plus several more seasons already ordered by Fox — the more common this will become. To which I say... D’oh! Stupid mortality! Damn you, inexorable march of time!