List of South Park cast members

South Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone who also do the majority of the voices.[1][2][3] Both Parker and Stone do most of the male characters on the show along with April Stewart and Mona Marshall, who do the female characters on the show. Guest stars have lent their voices to the show including Jay Leno, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Bill Hader, Robert Smith and the comedy duo Cheech & Chong voiced characters representing their likenesses for the season four (2000) episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons", which was the duo's first collaborative effort in 20 years.[4] The entirety of the Nu-Metal band Korn also provided their voices and likenesses in the season three episode "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery".

Characters in the show, according to Parker and Stone, are inspired by people they met when they were kids. Stan Marsh is made based on Parker himself while Kyle Broflovski is based on Stone himself.[5][6][7] Eric Cartman is partially named after and based on Matt Karpman, a high school classmate of Parker who remains a friend of both Parker and Stone.[8] Cartman is also inspired by All in the Family patriarch Archie Bunker, of whom Parker and Stone are fans. They state that creating Cartman as a "little eight-year-old fat kid" made it easier for the two to portray a Bunker-like character after the introduction of political correctness to late-20th century television.[9][10] Kenny McCormick was based on the creator's observation that most groups of childhood friends in small middle-class towns always included "the one poor kid" and decided to portray Kenny in this light.[11] Butters Stotch is loosely based on South Park co-producer Eric Stough.[12]

Some of the original voice actors left the show. Mary Kay Bergman voiced the majority of the female characters until her suicide on November 11, 1999. Mona Marshall and Eliza Schneider succeeded Bergman, with Schneider leaving the show after its seventh season (2003). She was replaced by April Stewart, who, along with Marshall, continues to voice most of the female characters. Isaac Hayes, who voiced the character Chef, left the show after Parker and Stone's depiction of the cult of Scientology, to which Hayes belonged, in the episode Trapped in the Closet.[13]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimesmorals was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Jaime J. Weinman (March 12, 2008). "South Park grows up". Macleans.ca. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference faq-23apr2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cashmere, Paul (March 5, 2009). "Cheech and Chong Will Make Another Movie". www.undercover.com.au. Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  5. ^ Jake Trapper and Dan Morris (2006-09-22). "Secrets of 'South Park'". ABC News. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  6. ^ "South Park FAQ". South Park Studios. 2009-02-10. Archived from the original on 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  7. ^ "40 Questions". South Park Studios. 2001-10-04. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  8. ^ "FAQ Archives". South Park Studios. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  9. ^ Rovner, Julie (2008-04-05). "Eric Cartman: America's Favorite Little $@#&*%". NPR. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  10. ^ Trey Parker; Matt Stone (2002-03-01). "Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript" (Interview). Archived from the original on 2010-02-09. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  11. ^ Trey Parker, Matt Stone. Goin' Down to South Park (Television documentary). Comedy Central.
  12. ^ "CU-Boulder Alum, 'South Park' Animation Director To Work With CU Film Students". University of Colorado at Boulder. April 21, 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
  13. ^ "Scientologist Isaac Hayes quits 'South Park'". MSNBC. Associated Press. March 21, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2011.