‘The Simpsons’ voice actor retires after 35 years on show — their last episode is Sunday

Pamela Hayden has been with “The Simpsons” from the very beginning.
Now, 36 seasons later, she’s saying goodbye.
Hayden, who has long voiced Milhouse Van Houten, Bart Simpson’s friend, is retiring.
While the actor is best known for playing the bespectacled character, she also played others on the show, including Jimbo Jones and Rod and Todd Flanders.
“Thank you for 35 years of Milhouse and so many more, Pamela Hayden!” the account for “The Simpsons” posted on social media Wednesday, announcing Hayden’s departure.
The post included a video retrospective featuring an interview with Hayden, 70, who started with the show in 1989.
“One thing that I love about Milhouse is he’s always getting knocked down but he keeps getting up,” she said. “I love the little guy.”
Hayden also voiced Ralph Wiggum’s mother and Chief Wiggum’s wife, Sarah Wiggum.
Hayden’s last episode is the one airing this Sunday, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” (8 p.m. Nov. 24 on Fox, streaming the next day on Hulu).
Hayden’s Milhouse made his series debut in December 1989, in the very first episode of “The Simpsons,” titled “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.”
But before that, Milhouse could be seen with Bart in a Butterfinger commercial, “The Butterfinger Group,” in 1988, when “The Simpsons” was a cartoon short on Fox’s “The Tracey Ullman Show” (watch below).
“Simpsons” creator Matt Groening took the character’s name from former President Richard Nixon’s middle name, Milhous.
The show will be recasting Hayden’s characters.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup.