Martha Maria Yeardley Smith, known professionally as Yeardley Smith, is a talented American actress and voice specialist, renowned for her distinctive looks, small figure, and child-like nasal tones. Born on July 3, 1964, in Paris, France, where her father served as a correspondent with UPI, Yeardley was raised in Washington, D.C. after her family moved there when she was just two years old.
As a shy and introverted child, Yeardley began her career as a teenager at a nearby dinner theater, where she played the role of Tinkerbell in a musical adaptation of Peter Pan. After completing high school, she apprenticed at the renowned Arena Stage before heading to New York to pursue bigger opportunities.
Yeardley's early professional experience included understudying the role of Debbie in Tom Stoppard's Broadway production of The Real Thing, starring Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, and later taking over the part for eight months. Her small film roles began to appear in the mid-1980s, including Heaven Help Us (1985) and The Legend of Billie Jean (1985).
In 1986, Yeardley relocated to Los Angeles, where she continued to work on stage, appearing in productions such as Boys and Girls/Men and Women (1987) and How the Other Half Loves (1988). She also secured a recurring role on the groundbreaking gay comedy series Brothers (1984) and later won the role of Lisa Simpson on the animated TV series The Simpsons, which premiered on The Tracey Ullman Show (1987) and later spun off into its own series in 1989.
Throughout her career, Yeardley has made numerous TV appearances, including guest roles on Dharma & Greg (1997),Murphy Brown, Empty Nest, and Mama's Family. She also had a regular role on Herman's Head (1991) and appeared in a range of films, including City Slickers (1991),Jingle All the Way (1996),and As Good as It Gets (1997).
In recent years, Yeardley has continued to be active in the entertainment industry, performing in her own one-woman autobiographical show, "More," in New York in 2004. She has also appeared in a variety of comedic and dramatic films, including Back by Midnight (2004),The Simpsons Movie (2007),Waiting for Ophelia (2009),High School (2010),Tug (2010),Virginia (2010),The Chaperone (2011),Miles (2016),All Square (2018),Love & Debt (2019),and Gossamer Folds (2020).
Yeardley has been married twice, first to actor Christopher Grove, and has been a guest on several TV shows, including Becker, The Big Bang Theory, Hot in Cleveland, and Mom.
