Little House On The Prairie's Melissa Gilbert Voiced A Key Batman: TAS Character

"Little House on the Prairie" star Melissa Gilbert has been entertaining fans for decades, and one of her career stops included a voice stint on "Batman: The Animated Series." It wasn't just any role, though. Gilbert voiced Batman's ally, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, appearing in six total episodes between 1992 and 1994. "To have the opportunity to play her was just ... it was like a dream come true," she said in a 2021 interview with Dan The Man. Unfortunately, her stint as Batgirl didn't last as long as she wanted. "I was out of the country working and they needed me, and I couldn't be there to record, so I had to step back ... I think Tara Strong took over the role ... and she was fantastic."

As Gilbert mentioned, Tara Strong took up the Batgirl mantle for "The New Batman Adventures," which ran from 1997 to 1999." Like Gilbert, Strong was over the moon to lend her talents to the animated world of Gotham. "Even booking that part was really exciting because I had been a fan of Batgirl as a kid," she shared with Cinema Blend. However, she faced a little hesitation after realizing how many A-list faces turned up to the audition. "I just thought, 'I don't know," she continued. Of course, she ended up landing the part, and had an appropriate reaction. "When my agent called, he's like, 'You're the girl, you're the girl! You're Batgirl!', I went, 'Oh my God!'"

Regardless of Gilbert's successors — which also included Mary Kay Bergman, who played Barbara Gordon in 1998's "Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero" — she'll always be the Batgirl from the most famous animated Batman series of all time.

Batgirl/Barbara Gordon has been voiced by many different actors over the decades. Each version of the character is influenced by the performer behind the microphone. According to Melissa Gilbert's Television Academy Foundation Interview, she worked hard to give both of her personas their own distinctive flair. One side was Barbara Gordon, "who sounded very much like I did," and "Batgirl, who was somewhere down here, and would say things like 'Drop the gun.'" Earlier in the interview, the "Little House on the Prairie" alum revealed that she approached her voiceover work just like her live action work. "I had to climb into the Batgirl character just as much as any other one I have played on camera," she said.

Gilbert's dedication to nailing Batgirl is probably why the role has resonated with so many viewers over the years. One fan in the BatmanTAS subreddit, for example, was of the opinion that Gilbert should've held onto the role indefinitely. "Do you think Melissa Gilbert shouldn't have been replaced with Tara Strong as the voice of Batgirl?" they asked. Another user replied, "I agree. I loved her Babs, but was the reason this happened ever stated?" In a different Reddit discussion about Gilbert's Batgirl, one person commented: "I prefer Melissa Gilbert over Tara Strong."