Mary Kay Bergman cast: EGB guest voice ("Sonic Youth" and "Slimer's Sacrifice") (Deceased) * Filmography * Official Website #1 * Official Website #2

Mary Kay Bergman, an actress who voiced many characters from the animated "South Park" shows and other major projects, has died. She was 38.

Bergman's attorney, Robert Harrison, says she killed herself on Thursday night. A memorial is planned for later this week.

In the demanding industry of vocal characterization, Bergman was probably best known for her versatility on the "South Park" series. She voiced the characters Mrs. Cartman, Wendy Testaburger, Stan's Mom, Kenny's Mom, Mayor McDaniels, Ms. Crabtree, Principal Victoria, Shelly Marsh and Nurse Gollem for the television series. She sang almost all the parts in a song, "Blame Canada," for this year's film "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut."

Since 1989, Bergman held the position of the official voice of Snow White for Disney. Sometimes credited as Shannen Cassidy, her 14-year career included voicing work in this summer's "Star Wars, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace"; the 1996 Disney film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," in which she read Quasimodo's mother; and this year's critically acclaimed "The Iron Giant."

She was heard in more than 400 commercials. Among them: a national campaign for Mrs. Butterworth's syrup, in which she provided the lead voice, and commercials for Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal, American Express, Honda and other sponsors.

Bergman was nominated for an award this year in the 27th annual Annies, which recognize achievement in animation. Her nomination was for her work as the voice of Sheila Broflovski in "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut." Other nominees in the category of vocal performance in an animated feature were Minnie Driver, Ralph Fiennes, Eli Marenthal and Suzanne Pleshette.

Bergman is survived by her husband, Dino Andrate, and her mother, Patricia McGowan. Harrison says Bergman had shown no signs of depression, and that her death has come as a surprise to her family. "That makes it a double tragedy," he says. "They feel there was nothing they could have done."

Bergman was the voice behind most of the female characters on the animated series "South Park"

News of her death has been carried on several Web sites, including the "South Park" site, beef-cake.com. On Monday, Bergman's agency, Sutton, Barth & Vennari (SBV), ran a full-page memorial to her in Daily Variety; Disney and other companies associated with Bergman are likely to run their own tributes to the actress this week, says Rita Vennari, who runs the agency's voice-over department.

"We miss her," says Vennari, who says SBV represented Bergman for many years. "She was wonderful, there was nobody like her. There was something very special about her, with her big brown eyes and curly red hair -- she was one of a kind.

"There's a whole group of animation people so involved in the techniques and the talent of (voice-over work), and she was one. She was really in the club. At such a young age she'd already been accepted by her peers."

Although she'll likely be remembered most readily for her "South Park" work, Vennari says Bergman herself would have been unable to single out her most significant role. "She considered all her work important, that was the best thing about her. It was all important to her."

It's unknown how Bergman's death might affect the third-season episodes of "South Park," yet to be produced.

The Nov. 11 death of Mary Kay Bergman, a versatile voiceover artist who gave life to animated characters in Beauty and the Beast and South Park, has been ruled a suicide, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Thursday. She was 38.

She died from a shotgun blast to the head while alone at the Venice-area home she shared with her husband, producer Dino Andrade, officials say. She is also survived by her mother, Patricia Bergman.

Published reports say she left behind two notes. Scott Carrier of the coroner's office says pathologists examined her body two days later and determined her death was a suicide.

Billed as "Shannen Cassidy," Bergman voiced nearly all the female characters on the South Park TV series, including Stan's mom, Kenny's mom, and Nurse Gollem. A spokesman for the Comedy Central series tells the New York Daily News that the show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, were too upset to make a statement and were "mourning privately."

The New York Post reports that production on South Park will continue without Bergman and that at least three future episodes featuring her voice have already been taped. Parker and Stone have not started looking for a replacement, a Comedy Central source tells the Post.

Bergman was also the official voice of Disney's Snow White and voiced several characters in this year's Warner Bros. animated feature The Iron Giant. Bergman lent her voice to Daphne Blake in two recent Scooby-Doo adventures, and Batgirl Barbara Gordon in Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. Additionally, Bergman did voiceovers for numerous video games including The Curse of Monkey Island (1997), King's Quest VII: Mask of Eternity (1998), and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Fans can pay their tributes at Bergman's official Web site (www.wackyvoices.com).

Among the tributes, a voiceover artist from Colorado writes, "From those of us who use our voices as art and who have so many characters waiting within us to be discovered, I wish those who knew and worked with Mary Kay peace and blessings. Her talent will live on. I dedicate my work in animation and VO to her memory and to all women in the field."

Reuters contributed to this story.

The animation industry was rocked last week when one of its up-and-coming and most versatile voice actors, Mary Kay Bergman, was found dead in her apartment. According to the Associated Press, Bergman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Bergman had developed a reputation as one of the most dependable and multifaceted actors in the business. In the last decade alone, she performed in Disney's Beauty and The Beast, served as the "official" voice for that studio's Snow White, voiced Barbara Gordon/Batgirl for five episodes of the Batman animated series as well as the Batman: Sub-Zero direct-home video, and provided the voice of Daphne Blake in the Scooby-Doo direct-home videos. Perhaps most remarkable of all, Bergman, under the name of Shannen Cassidy, provided all the female voices (except for "Bebe") for Comedy Central's South Park series.

"Mary Kay was with us from the very beginning and helped make South Park a success by sharing her amazing talent with us," South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone told MTV News. "We will miss her as an artist, a co-worker, and above all else a friend."

"Trey and Matt have withdrawn the statement they made to MTV earlier," reported a spokesperson for Comedy Central, who called after it was put on MTV's web site. "They've requested they be left alone for the time being so they can mourn privately."

"They want the fans to know that they are hard at work and will not miss a beat," the spokesperson added. "They intend to continue with South Park on schedule. As for replacing Mary Kay, they will start looking shortly although they said there will never be any one person who can truly take her place."

"Mary Kay came in to do about four-five episodes of The New Adventures of Batman and Robin when Melissa Gilbert announced she couldn't do it," a Warner Bros. spokesperson noted. "She agreed to stay with the project until a replacement, Tara Charendoff, was found. Her versatility was such that no one knew of the switch unless they read the credits. She mimicked Gilbert's voice that well. Without her, production of a number of critical Batman episodes would have been seriously delayed."

If Bergman did have one hallmark trait though, it was her versatility.

"She certainly was," concurs Susie Lum, Creative Director at Disney Character Voices. "You know, I don't think it was just because she was talented. She just worked so hard all the time. With Mary Kay, it was always study, study, study until she got it perfect. That's why she was the voice of Snow White since 1989. She was also in 101 Dalmatians as both the mother dogs and many of the puppies, in Cinderella she could do both the Fairy Godmother and the evil stepsisters, and was two of the three girls that followed Gaston around in Beauty And The Beast as well as three of the five Muses in Hercules.

"She also felt that it was her responsibility to mentor young talent. Also, when she found someone promising she would champion that person, right down to finding them a good agent and recommending them to us. She would just say that she liked to work with good people, and that is not a common take for most people."

"I have five other agents that have represented and had worked with her on a daily basis," says Rita Vennari, Bergman's personal agent. "We all, as a group, loved and now miss her. To us she was just beginning to fully achieve her career in voice over animation. To all of us, she was becoming very successful, and she had many, many years ahead of her. Her future would have been just fabulous."

"Actually, no one will ever really be able to replace Mary Kay," says Vennari. "Mary Kay loved animation. She ate, drank and breathed it."

"She was a very sweet and beautiful person," said attorney Robert Harrison. "As her attorney, I invariably had to also deal with all the producers and studios she worked for. They all found her incredibly flexible earnest and cooperative. They also said she had a real talent for creating voices on the spot, whatever was necessary."

Recently, Bergman starred in and co-produced an animated movie with her husband, Dino Andrede, called Bob's Video, which had just entered the independent film circuit. According Harrison, a major party was being planned for Bob's Video at December's Las Vegas Film Festival. There is no news as to whether the party will go on as planned or be cancelled.

According to Harrison, the L.A. County Medical Examiners Office had not released her body as of press time. A memorial service will be planned when her body is released.

Bergman is survived by her husband, Andrede, as well as her mother, Patricia McGowan.

Name: "Jay"
Hometown: Sherman Oaks
Sent: 12:51 AM - 11/21/1999

Mary Kay Bergman was my close personal friend for many years, and I was one of those who were summoned on last Thursday night to help deal with the trauma that her death brought upon her husband and other friends.

I can tell you from the POV of someone who knew her that she was a dear, genuine and sweet personality. She was generous and knew how to love people and was always gracious to her fans. She was not rich and famous, she was a working professional, making about as good a living as moderately successful attorney. Much of what she made went back into production costs of the independent feature she and Dino were producing and directing, as well as the real costs of doing business in her profession. She did not live in a mansion. She did not have a driver. She did not have a pool. She had a cat, she had orange trees, she had a husband and friends who loved her. She did not leave a pile of debts or other destructive, self-indulgent details behind to plague us. The worst thing her death has done is leave behind broken hearts of family and friends, and a void where once was someone very special.

It's plain by the note that she left behind her that she was no longer in control of her own actions, as we normally define it. If one were to put her on trial for her own murder, she would definitely get off on a plea of temporary insanity. And yet, because she took her own life, I see those here and elsewhere who see fit to judge the victim as if she were the criminal. As surely as if she had died of cancer or any other deadly disease, Mary Kay died a victim of mental illness -- internal demons who were spawned very early in her life, and whom she thought she had under control, though that was, of course, not true in the end. There was no sign of depression, none of the normal symptoms of impending suicide. A short time before on that evening I had had a pretty normal telephone conversation with her, during which there was nothing to indicate what would happen within a couple of hours. It was the cruel nature of her illness that it made her fear to make it known. To avoid being "found out", she hid its severity expertly from everyone who knew her, including her husband.

This has saddened my life and made me more sensitive to the real deadly danger of undetected and untreated mental problems.

Regardless, the vast majority of your posts have been a source of deep comfort to my friends, and we thank you for them. This was something I just felt the need to post in order to set the record straight.

J. Howard Higley

Actress, and Los Angeles native, Mary Kay Bergman took her own life Thursday November 11th after losing her struggle with a progressive mental illness, which tragically she kept secret from her husband, friends and family. She was 38.

Known to most as the star of SOUTH PARK, Mary Kay both voiced and sang as practically every female character on the hit series, including some 16 roles in the feature film version, which earned her an Annie nomination for Voice Acting in An Animated Feature Film. A veteran voice-over actress with over 400 commercials, and numerous feature films and television shows to her credit, she was also the classic voice of Snow White since 1989.

Mary Kay's only on-camera performance was in a cameo as "The Lady in Red" in the Indie feature BOB'S VIDEO, which she co-executive produced with her husband, director Dino Andrade, and her voice is heard in various roles throughout the film.

Mary Kay's other features ranged from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, HERCULES, MULAN, and THE IRON GIANT, to the soon-to-be released TOY STORY: 2 and STEWART LITTLE. Home video features included starring roles as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in BATMAN AND MR. FREEZE: SUBZERO, and Daphne Blake in SCOOBY DOO ON ZOMBIE ISLAND, and the recent SCOOBY DOO AND THE WITCH'S GHOST.

Mary Kay is survived by her mother Patricia McGowan, and husband Dino (Andrade). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: THE MARY KAY BERGMAN MEMORIAL FUND, c/o The Suicide Prevention Center, 4760 Sepulveda Blvd. Culver City, CA 90230 (310) 391-1253. (make checks payable to: "Suicide Prevention Center - In memory of Mary Kay Bergman"). Services to be announced soon.

Dino Andrade remembers his wife as an ebullient personality, a talented actress who performed all the female character voices on "South Park," and his closest and dearest personal friend.

What he doesn't remember is a clue -- any inkling, any shred of information or evidence that could have helped him stop Mary Kay Bergman from shooting herself to death at age 38 in November.

Seven months after his wife's suicide, Andrade is on a mission. Bergman, he believes, suffered from an acute mental illness that she kept hidden -- even from him -- for years.

Now, Andrade wants to help other actors and Hollywood types who likewise might be heading down potentially suicidal paths, and set them straight.

"A lot of these folks will keep their condition a secret because they feel their reputation is on the line," Andrade, 36, an independent filmmaker, tells Hollywood.com in his first at-length interview since his wife's death.

A few months ago, Andrade established the Mary Kay Bergman Memorial Fund, an adjunct to the Greater Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center that would have a hotline, counseling and crisis intervention services for the entertainment industry.

The association would give complete anonymity to entertainment pros, so they won't have to fear seeing their names in supermarket tabloids.

He believes that actors, in particular, are apt to hide mental health issues behind well-trained masks, just as Bergman did.

Bergman, who graduated from Hollywood High School, was blessed with a gift for mimicry and got into voice-over work after she was discovered while performing karaoke at a party.

She was the voice of a half-dozen female "South Park" characters (including Kyle's battle ax of a mom), but she also did lots of voice-over work for animated films, video games and feature films. She worked a lot for Disney (her voice was featured in "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," among others) and she was also heard in "The Iron Giant." One of her few onscreen roles is in "Bob's Video," a yet-unreleased movie directed by Andrade, her husband of nine years.

To give you an idea of her versatility, Bergman performed an unprecedented 16 different voices in the film "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," including nine different voices in the song "Blame Canada."

Despite a few news reports published around the time of Bergman's death, Andrade insists that his wife was not a "Hollywood casualty" driven to suicide by the cutthroat entertainment industry.

"She had this business by the balls," he says. "Unfortunately, she was ill."

Andrade now believes his wife suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a disease for which she was neither diagnosed nor treated. After Bergman died, Andrade says he found herbal mood medications that she had hidden in their home. "She was determined to fight it on her own," he says.

To her family and friends, and even her doctor, it appeared that Bergman was merely stressed out because of overwork. She and her husband planned a vacation, but what they didn't know was that Bergman really needed therapy and drug treatment to rid her of the irrational fears and demons of an advanced condition, Andrade says.

"I think she was dealing with this for years, hiding behind the voices of other people," he says. "The one mystery we'll never know is why she kept it a secret."

Shortly after this year's Academy Awards, Andrade took out a full-page ad in Variety, paying tribute to Bergman and imploring all in Hollywood who suffer from mental anguish to seek help. The feedback was immediate and supportive, he says.

"I don't want my Mary Kay's death to be a waste," Andrade says. "And already, I know that it is not. When we ran that advertisement, people called and said they were ill and they would seek help.

"That's what's giving me the strength to carry on with this, to reach others who are suffering but afraid to get help."

(Contributions to the Mary Kay Bergman Memorial Fund, Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center, 4760 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, Calif., 90230.)

• Al Lowe's Tribute (archive)
• Her Gravesite
• Voice Chasers: Mary Kay Bergman
• Voice Chasers Interview
• Short Video Interview With Mary Kay About The South Park Movie
• VelmaDinkley.com's Mary Kay Memorial