The Simpsons: 10 Classic Characters You’ll Never See Again
5. Maude Flanders
The last mention on this list of deceased Simpsons characters and no doubt one of the most impactful, Maude Flanders’ passing was quite a big deal.
It wasn’t entirely designed as a ratings grab (but that was definitely a contributing factor) and was mostly a response to Maude’s voice actor quitting the show. Maggie Roswell had been flying from her home in Denver to Los Angeles often twice a week to record her lines and was tired of the process and rising prices of airline travel.
As Marcia Mitzman Gavin stepped in to pick up Roswell’s roles, the show’s writers realised it was an opportunity to do something dramatic and have the characters of the show react to real tragedy.
Thus, Maude Flanders is killed in an incident involving, in typically silly Simpsons fashion, a t-shirt launching cannon.
Whilst Maude did contribute to the show a little, it definitely allowed her widower Ned to evolve. The episode in question, Alone Again Natur-Diddly, saw him have a crisis of faith and face the very real struggles of being a single Father - the kind of hard subject matter that the show used to face head-on.
Roswell returned to the show in 2002 to continue to voice her other roles but Maude is one dead-illy that can’t be undone.