Russell "Russi" Taylor was an American voice actress. She had been the former voice actress of Disney's Minnie Mouse character since 1986, longer than her predecessors. She also did the voices of Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri, and Üter on the animated series The Simpsons.
Early life[]
Russi Taylor was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1944.
Career[]
Taylor began her voice-over career in the mid-1970s. Her first voice-over role was the voice of Ted and Georgette's baby on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Taylor became the voice of Minnie Mouse in 1986, and continued to voice the character for 33 years until her death in 2019. She also voiced Huey, Dewey, and Louie and Webby Vanderquack in the television series DuckTalesand in other appearances. Taylor provided the voices of numerous characters in the animated series The Simpsons, including fourth-grade nerd Martin Prince, purple-haired twins Sherri and Terri, and German exchange student Üter. After her death, The Simpsons producers hired Grey DeLisle to succeed her.
She voiced Pebbles Flintstone in The Flintstone Comedy Show for Hanna-Barbera in 1980. Taylor was also the original voice of Strawberry Shortcake and the voice of Baby Gonzo in Muppet Babies, Nova in Twinkle, the Dream Being, Pac-Baby in the television series Pac-Man, the high-pitched Nurses that were mice in The Rescuers Down Under, Melissa in the Pound Puppies episode Garbage Night: The Musical, Queen Rosedust in My Little Pony, and her last non-Disney role was Birdie the Early Bird in McDonaldland commercials. She was also the voice of Drizella and the Fairy Godmother in the Cinderella sequels, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
Personal life[]
She was married to Wayne Allwine, the third voice of Mickey Mouse, from 1991 until his death in 2009. They were both named Disney Legends in 2008.
Death[]
Taylor died from colon cancer on July 26, 2019, at her home in Glendale, California, at the age of 75. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park right next to Allwine’s grave.
Filmography[]
Television[]
- The Flintstone Comedy Show
- Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Films[]
- Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988) - Phantasma
- Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby (1993) - Baby Pebbles
- A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994) - TBA
- Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008) - TBA
- The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! (2015) - TBA
