The Simpsons has paid tribute to actor Marcia Wallace, who voiced Edna Krabappel on the show.
Wallace died unexpectedly in 2013, which resulted in her character, Bart’s school teacher, being retired. A number of small tributes have been paid to Wallace in the series over the years, including Bart writing: “We’ll really miss you Mrs K” on the chalk board.
However, the character was given a fitting send-off in Sunday night’s (21 February) episode, titled “Diary Queen”. In the episode, Bart and Milhouse find Edna’s old diary, leading Bart to believe that he was her most-improved student.
While this turns out not to be the case, her husband Ned Flanders encourages Bart that Edna still thought fondly of him.
When Bart returns the diary to Ned, he reads a message from her about how he made her life a “dream come true”, with a montage of the character’s best moments playing.
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With the permission of Wallace’s estate, the actor’s voice was used in the episode. Executive producer Al Jean told Variety that they used two lines she had said previously on the show which fit into the storyline.
Speaking of the decision to pay tribute to Wallace seven years later, Jean explained: “Sadly, it was very surprising passing. I didn’t know she was that ill until very close to when it happened. So we never got the chance to give sort of a proper goodbye to her in the show, and this is a small attempt to do that.
“She was so beloved by everybody that worked on The Simpsons, that we just sort of wanted to give her one last moment on the show in her memory. It’s just that, it’s nothing more, but, we thought she was the best.”
Wallace won an Emmy for her performance as Edna in 1992.
