Christine Cavanaugh, Cartoon Voice Actress, Dies at 51

Christine Cavanaugh, the famed voice actress who brought to life Dexter on Dexter’s Laboratory and Chuckie on Rugrats, died Dec. 22 at age 51.

Cavanaugh began her acting career in 1988, landing her first major role in 1991 as Goslyn Duck from Dark Wing Duck. Along with her most beloved roles of Chuckie and Dexter, she also voiced Marty Sherman in The Critic (1994-1995) and the eponymous pig in Babe (1995), among many other film and TV critics.

The cause of Cavanaugh’s death was not stated in her obituary, which was published online Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times. The actress divorced her husband Kevin James Cavanaugh in 1985 and retired from her voice acting career in 2001. She did not have children, but was godmother to one of her childhood friends’ daughters, according to the obituary.

“Many know of her from the roles she played, but in each role there was a part of her showing through that the ones who truly knew her could see. The childlike awe of the world, humor to deal with the unpleasantness of reality, strength to deal with the challenges we all face, and intelligence to know when to act or accept what fate had allowed,” the obituary said. “Christine lived her life the way she wanted. Accolades, notoriety, and recognition were not the reason for her interest in entertainment, it was for the love of entertainment, to make people smile.”