Mary Kay Bergman

Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999), also briefly credited as Shannen Cassidy, was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher. She was the official voice of the Disney character Snow White from 1989 to 1999 and the lead female voice actress on the adult animated television series South Park from the show's debut in 1997 until her death in 1999. Bergman was also the voice actress of Claudette and Laurette in Beauty and the Beast, Dr. Blight in Captain Planet and the Planeteers (replacing Meg Ryan), Katie in Family Dog, and Daphne Blake in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 1997 to 1999. Throughout her career, Bergman performed voice work for every aspect in media, including over 400 television commercials. Bergman was born in Los Angeles, California. She had an interest in animation and impersonation early in her life. After acting in her first professional role in the television film Return Engagement, Bergman studied theater arts at UCLA for three years. Struggling to find a job suited for her, Bergman was trained under her voice-acting teacher Kat Lehman and started performing radio voiceovers. Bergman was chosen as the replacement of Snow White after a long search of talent agencies and voiceover classes. She joined The Groundlings to sharpen her voice acting skills, which contributed to her audition for Family Dog. In 1994, Bergman started teaching voice acting classes. In 1997, she was cast as nearly every female character in South Park after giving Trey Parker and Matt Stone ideas they originally did not have. Bergman suffered generalized anxiety disorder in her private life. Her condition, which led to physical symptoms and severe stress, was kept private. On November 11, 1999, Bergman wrote two suicide notes and shot herself in the head. Shortly after she died, her widower, Dino Andrade, established the Mary Kay Bergman Memorial Fund.