Strong was born as Tara Lyn Charendoff in Toronto, Ontario, on February 12, 1973,[2] the younger daughter of Syd and Lucy Charendoff.[3] Strong has called her Jewish background "a big part of her identity".[4] She has an older sister named Marla. At age four, Strong became interested in acting and volunteered to be a soloist at a school production.[5] She worked with the Yiddish Theatre, where she memorized her lines phonetically because she did not know the Yiddish language. Strong also performed with the Toronto Jewish Theater, where she acted in A Night of Stars and was featured in an audiotape for "Lay Down Your Arms" with the Habonim Youth Choir, singing the lyrics in both English and Hebrew.[5]
Strong's first professional role was Gracie in Limelight Theater's production of The Music Man at the age of 13.[5] She had a guest role in the action series T. and T. Her first major cartoon role, also at the age of 13, was the title role in Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater.[6] Strong starred in the short-lived CBC Television sitcom Mosquito Lake.[5] She took improv classes at The Second City in Toronto[6] and continued acting in both animated and live-action shows and films, before moving to Los Angeles in January 1994.[4][7]
While recording lines for her role as Dil in Rugrats, one scene's script for Strong's character prompted her to make crying noises. During the taping, the producers suddenly paused and revealed to Strong that her voice acting of a child had been so realistic that she had inadvertently made a woman in the studio lactate. As the role was otherwise going to be offered to Madonna, Strong subsequently quipped that she was proud that the incident led to her keeping the role.[9][10]
In 2013, Strong won the Shorty Award for "Best Actress" for her use of social media.[21] The Behind the Voice Actors website selected her for a BTVA Voice Acting Award for Voice Actress of the Year for 2013,[22] having nominated her for 2011 and 2012.[23][24]
Strong starred in the Canadian series Pretty Hard Cases as Tiggy Sullivan, the head of a drug trafficking gang. She also voices Miss Minutes in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe series Loki.[25]
Strong's posts and likes on others' posts relating to the war on Twitter, particularly her opinions on the government of Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip,[29] garnered controversy and criticism, which led independent animation studio Bandit Mill Animation to remove her from the production of their upcoming series Boxtown and recast a role for a character she would have voiced. They explained on their official Twitter page that "this decision was due to a trend among Tara's recent online activity, including posts that promote controversial messages regarding the peoples of Palestine currently being affected by the ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis."[30]
After her removal, Strong claimed that she was "fired for being Jewish". This was denied by a co-writer of Boxtown's pilot, Spencer Rothbell, who pointed out that several Boxtown cast and crew members are Jewish, including himself and voice actor Alex Hirsch, the latter whom is voicing a lead character in the series.[31]
Personal life
In 1999, Strong met U.S. real estate agent and former actor Craig Strong.[2][32] The couple married on May 14, 2000, and have two sons named Sammy (b. February 2002) and Aden (b. August 2004).[33] They lived in Los Angeles and were formerly the owners of VoiceStarz, an online company that taught people how to get into the voice-over business.[34] On July 24, 2019, she filed for divorce,[35] which was finalized on January 5, 2022.[36] That same year, she started dating social media entrepreneur Willie Morris who runs Happy Goat Farm, a farmland based in Yosemite.[37]
Strong is a vegan.[38] In 2012, during the BronyCon event in New Jersey, she attended a lunch with fans from the military.[39] In 2013, she was involved with a charity group called Bronies for Good, helping them raise funds for a family whose daughter had a brain tumor.[4][40]
^ abMulman, Doreen. "Stats and Agency Info". TOTS: The Official Tara Strong. MKBMemorial.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
^ abcdMulman, Doreen. "Early Career". TOTS – The Official Tara Strong. MKBMemorial.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
^ abMulman, Doreen. "FAQ 2008". TOTS: The Official Tara Strong. MKBMemorial.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
^Perlmutter, David (2014). America toons in: a history of television animation. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 313–315. ISBN978-0-7864-7650-3.