Actress Marcia Wallace, best known as the voice of Mrs Krabappel on the animated series The Simpsons, has died at the age of 70. The tragic news was announced earlier this week in a statement from The Simpsons’s execturive producer Al Jean. Mrs Krabappel won Wallace an Emmy for her vocal work in 1992. The grumpy, fourth-grade teacher with a personal vendetta against Bart Simpson became something of a cult icon over the course of the show.

Marcia Wallace
Wallace had a long and fruitful career in television.

 

"I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace," Jean said on Saturday. He also announced that Wallace would not be replaced as the voice of Mrs Crabapple and that instead, the character would be retired altogether.

"She was beloved by all at The Simpsons. It's a terrible loss for all who had the pleasure of knowing her," Jean also said.

Wallace’s character was a staple on The Simpsons, since the show first aired in 1990. Edna Krabappel is known for her catchphrase “Do what I mean, not what I say.”

Despite achieving widespread fame with the character, this was not Wallace’s first significant part. Before that she played receptionist Carol Bondurant on The Bob Newhart Show and guest starred on popular shows in the 1970s and 1980s such as The Love Boat and Magnum PI. In 2004, she wrote and published a memoir, entitled “Don’t Look Back, We’re Not Going That Way,” in which she recounted, among other things, her experience with breast cancer (Wallace was a survivor of the disease.) The cause of her death has not been announced, although a report by TMZ states that Wallace died surrounded by family, following a prolongued battle with illness. Tributes are still flooding in via social media.