Nancy Cartwright created a character, Lily Padd, who made appearances on Ken's Pool Side Show. She became a recognizable character in the afternoon drive-time slot, parlaying back and forth with Ken and with Bob Breck, the weather man at the local TV station.
During that summer, a representative from Warner Brothers, Anne Schwebel, came to the station to promote new artists. When she returned to California, she sent Nancy a letter that contained a number of names, addresses and phone numbers, including one of Daws Butler, who gave voice to Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quick-Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie and Elroy Jetson, to name a few.
"When I hung up the phone I was embarrassed and there wasn't even anybody around when I did it."
Nancy Cartwright picked up the phone and called Daws. Much to her surprise, an answering machine picked up and left a quirky outgoing message from Daws as a British butler. Nancy responded with a quirky little message with a Cockney twist. That evening Daws called her, thus beginning the mentor-student relationship that would eventually bring her to California to study with Daws in person.
At Ohio University, Nancy Cartwright brought in more trophies for the school and got to travel all around the Midwest and East Coast. But she lived for the day the mail would bring her yet another script from Daws. He would write his own material and give her suggestions about how to play the part. Nancy would then record the piece on a cassette player and send it back to Daws. He return notes with his critiques and praise.
As another year passed at college, Nancy Cartwright realized that she wanted to study with Daws. After pulling out a map of California, Nancy Cartwright decided to transfer to UCLA, close to Daws in Beverly Hills.
