Christine Cavanaugh

Not to be confused with Christine Kavanagh.

Christine Cavanaugh
Cavanaugh at the 68th Academy Awards in 1996
Born	Christine Josephine Sandberg (1963-08-16)August 16, 1963 Layton, Utah, U.S.
Died	December 22, 2014(2014-12-22) (aged 51) Cedar City, Utah, U.S.
Alma mater	Utah State University University of Hawaiʻi
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–2003
Spouse	Kevin James Cavanaugh ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 1988)​

Christine Josephine Cavanaugh (née Sandberg; August 16, 1963 – December 22, 2014) was an American actress, who had a distinctive speaking style and provided the voice for a large range of cartoon characters. She was the original voice of Chuckie Finster in Nickelodeon's Rugrats and the voices of Gosalyn Mallard in Disney's Darkwing Duck, Bunnie Rabbot from ABC's Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, Oblina in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and the titular characters of Babe and Cartoon Network's Dexter's Laboratory, respectively.

Cavanaugh retired from voice acting and public life in general in 2001, although some media with her contributions continued to be released until 2003. She died at age 51 on December 22, 2014, at her home in Cedar City, Utah.

Early life

Christine Josephine Sandberg was born in Layton, Utah,^[1] on August 16, 1963,^[2] to Waldo Eugene Sandberg and Reta Mason.^[3] At the age of 15, she was adopted by Kirt and Linda Johnson, who she considered as her parents for the rest of her life, after her "mamma", Margaret Sandberg, died.^[2] Cavanaugh was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She graduated from Layton High School in 1981.^[4]

Career

In 1991, Cavanaugh voiced Gosalyn Mallard, the titular character's adoptive daughter on Disney's Darkwing Duck as well as Chuckie Finster on Nickelodeon's Rugrats and later in 1994, Oblina on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.

Cavanaugh could also be heard on The Critic as the voice of Marty, Jay Sherman's son. Her voice credits also include the animated series Sonic the Hedgehog, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Hercules: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, The Wild Thornberrys, and Recess, as well as the voice of Birdie in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald.

In 1995, Cavanaugh lent her voice to the live-action film Babe in the starring role of the titular character.^[5][6] She was offered to reprise her role for the sequel, Babe: Pig in the City, but decided against it when contract negotiations fell through,^[7] so the role was instead played by her Rugrats co-star Elizabeth Daily.^[8][9] Also in 1995, Cavanaugh started doing the voice of the eponymous character of Dexter's Laboratory, which began as a short under Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon! show, and later became the first short to be adapted into its own series for Cartoon Network. She later won an Annie Award in 2000 for her voice performance as Dexter in the hour-long TV special Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip.^[10]

Cavanaugh also guest starred on several TV shows including Salute Your Shorts, Cheers, Empty Nest, Wings, The X-Files, Everybody Loves Raymond, and ER, and had supporting roles in the feature films Soulmates and Jerry Maguire. Cavanaugh retired from voice acting in 2001 to spend more time with family,^[11] although some TV episodes and films with her recordings continued to be released until 2003. After her retirement, she was replaced by Candi Milo as the voice of Dexter and by Nancy Cartwright, her co-star in The Critic, as the voice of Chuckie in Rugrats.

Death

On December 22, 2014, Cavanaugh died at her home in Cedar City, Utah, at the age of 51.^[12] She was cremated and her ashes were scattered into the Great Salt Lake.^[13]

Legacy

Cavanaugh's legacy was acknowledged by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory. Tartakovsky cited Cavanaugh's death as a factor in his refusal to create a reboot of the show without Christine Cavanaugh reprising her role as Dexter and Alison Moore reprising her role as Dee Dee.^[14]

Filmography

Voice roles

Year	Work	Role	Notes
1988	David and the Magic Pearl	David	English dub
1991–1992	Darkwing Duck	Gosalyn Mallard
1991–2002	Rugrats	Chuckie Finster/Chuckie's Guardian Angel, additional voices	Played Chuckie for the first 7 seasons and a few early episodes of season 8. Nancy Cartwright replaced her for the rest of the series and the Rugrats spin-off, All Grown Up!
1992	Raw Toonage	Gosalyn Mallard
	Gramps	Alien Kid #2
	The Secret of the Seal	Tottoi	English dub
1993	Recycle Rex	Additional voices
1993–1994	Sonic the Hedgehog	Bunnie Rabbot	[15]
1993	A Flintstone Family Christmas	Stoney
1994–1997	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Oblina
1994–1995	The Critic	Marty Sherman
1994	Aladdin	Additional voices
	Beethoven	Rosebud	1 episode "Cyrano De Beethoven"
1995	Babe	Babe	She was offered to reprise her role for the sequel, Babe: Pig in the City, but decided against it due to personal matters, so the role was instead played by her Rugrats co-star Elizabeth Daily.
	Balto	Additional voices	Uncredited
1995–2002	Dexter's Laboratory	Dexter	55 episodes; Played in seasons 1, 2, and only a few early season 3 episodes, Candi Milo played the rest of the series.
1995-1996	What a Cartoon!	Dexter, Alien kid 2, boy	3 episodes; Played in seasons 1 and 2.
1995–1997	Sing Me a Story with Belle	Carroll the Book Worm
1995–1997	The New Adventures of Sheldon	Sheldon
1996	P.J. Funnybunny: A Very Cool Easter	Ritchie Raccoon	credited as Chris Cavanaugh
	The Flintstones Christmas in Bedrock	Additional voices
	Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker	Oblina	CD-Rom
1996–2000	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Frog Child
1996	Cave Kids	Bamm-Bamm Rubble
1997	101 Dalmatians: The Series	Wizzer, Dumpling
	Recess	Library Kid, Digger #2, Sue Bob Murphy
	Unbeatable Harry	Additional voices
1998	Hercules: The Animated Series	Alcides
	The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Scared Silly	Birdie	Direct-to-video film
	Rugrats: Search for Reptar	Chuckie Finster	Video game
	The Powerpuff Girls	Bunny, Bud Smith
	The Rugrats Movie	Chuckie Finster
	The Wild Thornberrys	Short-tailed Macaque
1999	Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip	Dexter, D22, Old Man Dexter	TV film
	The Brothers Flub	Valerina
	The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: The Legend of Grimace Island	Birdie	Direct-to-video film
	The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: The Visitors from Outer Space		Direct-to-video film
	Sing Me a Story with Belle	Carol the Book Worm
	Rugrats: Studio Tour	Chuckie Finster	Video game
2000	Cartoon Cartoon Fridays	Dexter
	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie	Chuckie Finster
2001	The Weekenders	Tasha
	Lloyd in Space	Charmaine
	Rugrats: Still Babies After All These Years	Chuckie Finster	TV documentary
	Rugrats: All Growed Up!		TV film
	The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Birthday World	Birdie	Direct-to-video film
	The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Have Time, Will Travel		Direct-to-video film
2003	The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: The Monster O' McDonaldland Loch		Direct-to-video film; final film role

Live-action

Year	TV Series/Film	Role	Notes
1990	Cheers	Terry Gardner	Episode # 8.24: "Mr. Otis Regrets"
1991	Salute Your Shorts	Mona Tibbs	Episode # 1.12: "Ug's Girlfriend Is Coming"
	Empty Nest	Kimberly	Episode # 4.7: "Country Weston"
1992	Salute Your Shorts	Mona Tibbs	Episode # 2.12: "They Call Me Ms. Tibbs"
	Herman's Head	Martha Fitzer	Episode # 2.13: "A Charlie Brown Fitzer"
1993	Wings	Fan	Episode # 4.17: "I Love Brian"
	Frasier	Fast Food Worker (uncredited)	Episode # 1.10: "Oops"
1994	Wild Oats	Kathee
1995	Little Surprises	Pepper	Short
	Down, Out & Dangerous	Leslie McCoy	TV film
1996	Jerry Maguire	Mrs. Remo	Credited as Christina Cavanaugh
1997	Delivery	Bridgette
	Soulmates	Anna Weisland
	The X-Files	Amanda Nelligan	Episode # 4.20: "Small Potatoes"
	Everybody Loves Raymond	Erin	Episode # 2.12: "All I Want for Christmas"
1998	You Lucky Dog	Bernice	TV film
2000	ER	Gloria	Episode # 7.3: "Mars Attacks"

References

1. "Christine Cavanaugh". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
2. "Christine Cavanaugh Obituary (2014) – Los Angeles, California". Los Angeles Times. December 30, 2014. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
3. "Obituary: Waldo E. Sandberg". Deseret News. September 19, 1999. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
4. "Television Shows Made by Latter-Day Saints". ldsfilm.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
5. Moret, Jim (August 7, 1995). "'Babe' the Pig Really Sizzles". CNN Showbiz News. CNN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
6. "Work Pays Off with Top Roles As Voice-Over". Deseret News. August 25, 1995. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
7. Hayward, Anthony (January 5, 2015). "Christine Cavanaugh: Voice Actor Behind the Eponymous Pig in 'Babe' and the Worrisome Toddler Chuckie in 'Rugrats'". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
8. Lacher, Irene (December 18, 1998). "A Former Phantom, a Future Noah". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
9. Goldstein, Patrick (December 18, 2001). "A Voice Actor Speaks for Herself". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
10. "28th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2000)". AnnieAwards.org. ASIFA-Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
11. McNary, Dave (December 30, 2014). "Christine Cavanaugh, Voice of Chuckie from 'Rugrats,' 'Babe,' Dies at 51". Variety. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
12. "Christine Cavanaugh, Piglet's Voice In 'Babe,' Dies At 51". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 31, 2014. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
13. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3 ed.). McFarland. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2019 – via Google Books.
14. John-Day, Michael (April 25, 2023). "Dexter's Laboratory Creator Addresses the Chances of a Revival Series". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
15. "Christine Cavanaugh (visual voices guide)". BTVA. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

External links

• Christine Cavanaugh at IMDb 
• Christine Cavanaugh Obituary – Los Angeles Times