Mary Jo Catlett

Mary Jo Catlett, born on September 2, 1938, in Denver, Colorado is an American actress who has been in a lot of renowned work. She is the main cast member in the famous animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, giving the voice for Mrs. Puff. In total, she has contributed to more than 100 projects and is considered a legend in the industry. Some of the well-known television series she’s seen in are 2 Broke Girls, That’s So Raven, Glee, and so on.

In her hometown, she participated in a number of plays and ended up directing a company of Pirates of Penzance. She spent most of the 1960s and 1970s performing in off-broadways and Broadway musicals where she was often seen playing humorous and light-hearted roles. In the late1960s, she started appearing in TV shows like The Dukes of Hazard and General Hospital after which she bagged the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards in 1978 and 1980 and then a nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the Ovation Awards in 1995 followed by a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1990. Later in 1998, Catlett got the main casting of the then-upcoming cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants as the voice of the title character’s teacher, Mrs. Puff. Mrs. Puff turned out to be her longest run and most known character.

In addition, she also voiced in all the theatrical SpongeBob films and video games which also got her an Annie Award nomination for her voice-over work as Mrs. Puff in 2001. With her plaintive and matronly features, ample size, wallflower demeanour, and instincts for broad levity, Mary Jo has proven to be a natural for small screen comedy. 

Also, having done scores of commercials, one of her best known is for "Black Flag" where she delivered the popular catchphrase "The roaches check in, but they don't check out!". Catlett has remained unmarried. Over the years, Mary Jo has shown that her heart is as big as her talent as a consistently reliable and fun-filled novelty song performer at charity fundraisers and musical benefits, most notably for various AIDS and the Broadway-oriented "Help Is on the Way" organizations.