Pamela Hayden Retiring From 'The Simpsons'

The actress, who voiced Milhouse, Jimbo, Rod, Sarah Wiggum, Janey, and more has been with the show since before the beginning of the full series

Everything’s coming up, Milhouse, including retirement. The 35th anniversary of The Simpsons as a full series has hit a bittersweet note, as Pamela Hayden, most prominently the voice of Bart’s best friend Milhouse Van Houten and Jimbo Jones, one of their bullies, has retired. Writer Carolyn Omine corrected the trades that claimed “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” was her final episode, revealing the last show she recorded was "O C'mon All Ye Faithful", the first of the Disney+ exclusive episodes, which was recorded after the two other exclusives “The Past and the Furious” and “Yellow Planet” which she is also part of.

Hayden was given an announcement and tribute video on the Animation Domination YouTube channel where she declared, “The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons?……not easily.  It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show, and to give voice to Milhouse and Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey, Malibu Stacy, and many others.” Milhouse, named after the middle name of President Richard Nixon, had his first appearance was in a 1988 Butterfinger commercial, still in the Tracey Ullman Show shorts era. It is unclear how much this retirement makes Milhouse a silent spectator for the Bengals-Cowboys Funday Football fully-animated alt-telecast happening Monday, December 9 for Monday Night Football. While her final bow being “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” ended up incorrect, it is still probably worth refreshing what the episode is about. It is a Ray Bradbury-inspired anthology where a tattooed man at a mysterious night circus transports Lisa into stories from the innocent 1950s, the “chilling” retro-present, and a “brutalist future” where “prestige TV rules the world”, so in fact her characters fact have multiple roles each.

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“Bart needed someone to talk to in the school cafeteria. We named him Milhouse because that was the most unfortunate name a kid could have,” The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said. “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.”

Executive producer Al Jean joked that Milhouse was a favorite of the writers’ room as “most of the writers are more like Milhouse than Bart.” James L. Brooks added, “She is a model for having a great spirit for every cast she has been a part of. We will miss her.” Writer-producer Michael Price confirmed on Twitter, in what’s essentially a group chat we’re both in but it’s a public thread that the casting process will not affect episode presence. There will be zero episodes where her relinquished characters will be absent or have silent cameos.

“I’ll always have a special place in my heart for that blue-haired 10-year-old boy with glasses,” Hayden concluded. Recasting is apparently just getting underway. The last several years of The Simpsons have seen a lot of recasting, starting with Grey DeLisle taking over Sherri, Terri, and Martin Prince following the death of Russi Taylor, and the wave brought on by seeking better representation in the wake of 2020’s Black Lives Matter resurgence. It saw Kevin Michael Richardson take over Judge Snyder and Dr. Hibbert, Dawnn Lewis take over Bernice Hibbert, Jenny Yokobori take on Kumiko, wife of Comic Book Guy, and Alex Desert take on Carl Carlson, among others that include Janey’s from Hayden to Kimberly Brooks.

Hayden’s most notable non-Simpsons role seems to have been Douglas McNoggin, one of Lloyd’s friends on Lloyd in Space, though she was also Pattie on the infamous Turbo Teen. Other than that, her most recognizable non-Simpsons character might be Connie, one of the sixth grade girls, friend of Maria, who Arnold and Gerald hang out with. She seems to have moved into Simpsons exclusivity by 2004, with the end of Lloyd in Space and Party Wagon, a Craig Bartlett creation for Cartoon Network that didn’t get picked up. Watch the video tribute below, and get used to the idea of two spaghetti dinners down a different-sounding gullet.

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Source: Deadline, Carolyn Omine, Michael Price