Voice actress Christine Cavanaugh passed away last Monday, December 22, as reported in today's L.A. Times. Cavanaugh was the voice of several 1990s era animated icons including Chuckie Finster on Nickelodeon's "Rugrats," Goslyn on Disney's "Darkwing Duck" and Dexter on Cartoon Network's "Dexter's Laboratory." She was also the voice of the titular character in Chris Noonan's 1995 Academy Award winning film "Babe."
Cavanaugh was born and raised in Utah and later attended University of Hawaii where she met her future husband. After college, she moved to California to pursue her acting career. Other notable characters she voiced throughout her career include: Marty Sherman ("The Critic" 1994-95), Oblina ("Ahhhhh Real Monsters" 1994-97), Bunnie Rabbot ("Sonic The Hedgehog" 1993-94) and Bamm-Bamm (on "Cave Kids" in 1996). She also appeared on screen in small parts on TV's "Cheers," "Empty Nest," "Wings," "The X-Files" and "Everybody Loves Raymond." She was in the 1996 big screen smash "Jerry Maguire."
"She was able to do incredible and amazing things with her voice and bring lots of smiles and many laughs to people who are now young adults," her obituary reads. "Her imagination, humor, and intelligence were evident to anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her. Many know of her from the roles she played, but in each role there was a part of her showing through that the ones who truly knew her could see. The childlike awe of the world, humor to deal with the unpleasantness of reality, strength to deal with the challenges we all face, and intelligence to know when to act or accept what fate had allowed."
Cavanaugh retired from her voice acting in 2001 to be closer to her family... but this is how I'll always fondly remember this supremely talented woman:
