What is Yeardley Smith’s Net Worth and Salary?
Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer, comedian and painter who has a net worth of $85 million.
Yeardley Smith is best known for voicing Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television sitcom “The Simpsons.” She has appeared on many other shows over the years, including “Brothers,” “Herman’s Head,” and “Dharma & Greg,” as well as in films such as “Maximum Overdrive,” “City Slickers,” and “Toys.” Smith has also performed on stage, with credits including “The Real Thing” and the one-woman play “More.”
Yeardley Smith Salary
According to their latest contract, each principal voice actor on The Simpsons makes $300,000 per episode. That translates into around $7 million per season.
Early Life
Martha Maria Yeardley Smith was born on July 3, 1964 in Paris, France to Joseph, who worked for United Press International, and Martha, who was a paper conservator for the Smithsonian Institution. The family moved to Washington, DC in 1966, where Joseph became the first official obituary editor for the Washington Post. Smith’s parents would later divorce.
The Simpsons
Smith had her breakout role in 1987 when she began voicing Lisa Simpson in “The Simpsons” animated shorts, which aired as part of the television sketch comedy program “The Tracey Ullman Show.” In 1989, the shorts were spun off into their own show, “The Simpsons,” which would go on to become the longest-running sitcom in television history. As Lisa, the brainy daughter of the titular family, Smith slightly lifts up her already high-pitched voice. For her work, she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992. Despite her famous role as Lisa Simpson, Smith is scarcely recognized in public, something she has said she doesn’t mind.
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Further Television Career
Before “The Simpsons,” Smith played Louella Waters in the final two seasons of the Showtime sitcom “Brothers” from 1987 to 1989. She also appeared in episodes of “Tales from the Darkside,” “Mama’s Family,” “Square One Television,” and “Murphy Brown.” Smith continued appearing on various show after “The Simpsons” began. From 1991 to 1994, she played secretary Louise Fitzer on the Fox sitcom “Herman’s Head.” Later in the decade, Smith appeared in the television film “Toothless” and on the sitcoms “Smart Guy” and “Teen Angel.” She was also in episodes of “Sports Night” and “Nash Bridges.” From 1997 to 2002, Smith played the recurring role of Marlene on the sitcom “Dharma & Greg.”
In the 00s, Smith had guest roles on such shows as “Becker,” “Dead Like Me,” “Phil of the Future,” “Strong Medicine,” and “Mad Men.” She also appeared in the Hallmark Channel fantasy romance film “The Wishing Well.” In 2010, Smith appeared in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” playing Sandy. She subsequently had guest roles on “Hot in Cleveland,” “Revenge,” and “The Mindy Project.” In 2016, Smith appeared in an episode of the sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat,” and in 2017 was in an episode of the CBS sitcom “Mom.”
Film Career
Smith made her big-screen debut in the 1985 film “Heaven Help Us.” Later in the year, she appeared in “The Legend of Billie Jean,” a box-office bomb. Smith’s next film role was as Connie in Stephen King’s horror film “Maximum Overdrive,” released in 1986. The year after that, she had a brief part in the teen comedy “Three O’Clock High.” Smith had her biggest year on the big screen yet in 1989, appearing in three films: “Listen to Me,” “Silence Like Glass,” and “Ginger Ale Afternoon.” She next appeared in the 1991 comedy Western “City Slickers,” gaining attention for her memorable one-scene role as a pregnant checkout girl named Nancy. In 1992, Smith appeared in Barry Levinson’s “Toys,” and in 1993 voiced Cecilia Nuthatch in the animated film “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story.”
In 1996, Smith made an uncredited appearance in the Christmas family comedy “Jingle All the Way.” She had bigger roles the following year in “Just Write” and “As Good as it Gets.” After those, Smith took a break from the big screen. She returned in 2007 to voice Lisa Simpson in “The Simpsons Movie.” A few years later, she appeared in the comedies “Tug” and “High School” and the drama “Virginia.” Smith was subsequently in three films in 2011: the crime comedy “The Chaperone,” the romantic comedy “New Year’s Eve,” and the coming-of-age musical dramedy “Spork.” Her credits since then include the 2016 film “Miles,” in which she plays Mrs. Armstrong.
Stage Career
Smith began her professional acting career on stage in 1982. After appearing in several plays in Washington, DC, she moved to New York City in 1984 and acted in the Broadway production of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.” Smith moved to Los Angeles a couple years later, where she appeared in productions of “Living on Salvation Street,” “Boys and Girls/Men and Women,” and “How the Other Half Loves.” Much later, in 2004, she returned to New York City to star in her own off-Broadway one-woman show, called “More.” Directed by Judith Ivey, the play focused on her personal life and her ambivalence surrounding the success of “The Simpsons.” Smith subsequently performed the play in Los Angeles.
Podcasts
In 2017, Smith started cohosting the podcast “Small Town Dicks” with actress and friend Zibby Allen. The podcast explores true crime in small towns around the United States. Allen left the show in 2019 after she and Smith filed lawsuits against one another over ownership and profit rights from the podcast. Smith has since made guest appearances on some other podcasts, including “Harmontown” and “The Adam Carolla Show.”
Personal Life
Smith married her first husband, actor Christopher Grove, in 1990. They divorced two years later on account of irreconcilable differences. Smith married her second husband, Daniel Erickson, in 2002; they divorced in 2008, also on account of irreconcilable differences. Later, in 2022, Smith wed her “Small Town Dicks” cohost Dan Grice. Grice was actually working as a detective when he first met Yeardley. He was hired to protect her during a public appearance at a “Simpsons” mural unveiling in Springfield, Oregon in 2014. Their podcast has been downloaded over 50 million times.
