Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress who voiced many characters throughout her career. She most notably provided the voices of Minnie Mouse from 1986 and The Simpsons character Martin Prince from 1989 until her death.

Biography

Taylor was born on May 4, 1944, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

She voiced Huey, Dewey and Louie and Webby Vanderquack in the television series DuckTales, the video game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers and in other appearances such as in the holiday movies Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. In appearances where the three young ducks appear at an older age, such as in Mickey Mouse Worksand Disney's House of Mouse, Tony Anselmo, the voice of Donald Duck, reprises Taylor's role as their voice actor. In Mickey's Boo to You Halloween Parade at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Mickey Mouse Works and in Disney's House of Mouse, she plays Clara Cluck.

Taylor provides the voices of numerous characters in the animated series The Simpsons, including fourth-grade nerd Martin Prince, purple-haired twins Sherri and Terri, and German exchange student Üter. On occasions, she voiced Martin's friend, Wendell. In addition, she participated in two anime dubbing projects. The first is Daisy Nohara, Max, Cheetah and Shin's Grandmother (Tsuru Nohara) in the English Vitello dub of Crayon Shin-chan, while the other is the voice of Otama in Disney's re-dubbing of Pom Poko.

She was the original voice of Strawberry Shortcake in the six 1980s television specials.

She voiced Pebbles Flintstone in The Flintstone Comedy Show for Hanna-Barbera in 1980. Taylor was also the voice of Baby Gonzo in Muppet Babies, Nova in Twinkle, the Dream Being, Pac-Baby in the television series Pac-Man, the high-pitched Nurses that were mice in The Rescuers Down Under, Melissa in the Pound Puppies episode Garbage Night: The Musical, Queen Rosedust in My Little Pony, and her last non-Disney role was Birdie the Early Bird in McDonaldland commercials. She was also the voice of Drizella and the Fairy Godmother in the Cinderella sequels, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.

Taylor also provided the voice of the main hero Widget in Widget the World Watcher and Hard Luck Duck in a What-a-Cartoon! short.

She also appears in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, playing Fauna and Sofia the First, alongside her Simpsons castmates, Tress MacNeille and Frank Welker. She was nominated for an Emmy for her voice work in PBS' series Jakers! in 2006. She recently voiced a witch in her second Scooby-Doo movie, Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King.

Taylor also replaced Jeanette Nolan (who died in 1998) as Widow Tweed in The Fox and the Hound 2.

Personal life

Taylor was married to Wayne Allwine, the third voice of Mickey Mouse, from 1991 until his death on May 18, 2009. They were both named Disney Legendsin 2008.

Death and legacy

Taylor died on July 26, 2019, at her home in Glendale, California, at the age of 75.

Disney's chairman and CEO, Bob Iger, payed tribute to Russi saying: "Minnie Mouse lost her voice with the passing of Russi Taylor. For more than 30 years, Minnie and Russi worked together to entertain millions around the world — a partnership that made Minnie a global icon and Russi a Disney Legend." Bill Farmer also payed tribute by saying: "Russi was as close as family; as wonderful, funny, and sweet as Minnie Mouse, and as talented yet humble as you would expect, I will deeply and dearly miss her.”