Tara Strong is known for dozens and dozens of roles on some of the most popular cartoon series of the past twenty years, including Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks (Dannan/Molly), Ben 10 (Ben/Upgrade), Teen Titans (Raven), Xiaolin Showdown (Omi), The Fairly Oddparents (Timmy) and Rugrats (Dil Pickles), to name just a few. In the video game world, she is best known for her portrayal of Rikku in Final Fantasy X. Tara got married in 2000 and changed her surname to Strong, which is a quite fitting term to describe how her career is going!
A native of Toronto, it all started for Tara Lyn Charendoff when she was the only 4 year old in her class to volunteer to be a soloist in the school production. From there, it was obvious that she had the talent and drive to be an actress.
Soon she was acting outside the school in the Yiddish Theater. Although she spoke no Yiddish, she memorized her lines phonetically, which presented some problems when the older women wanted to tell her how much they loved her.
Tara performed in "Hello Tel-Aviv" and in "Abi Men Zeyt Zich" (Good To See You). She became a member of the Toronto Jewish Theater, where she performed in "A Night Of Stars." Tara was also featured in an audiotape called "Lay Down Your Arms (Lo Yisa Goy)" in which she sang in Hebrew with the Habonim Youth Choir.
At age 13, Tara was was accepted into a school of the performing arts in Toronto. Her first professional role was Gracie in the Limelight Theater's production of "The Music Man." That same year, she booked a guest role on Mr. T's series called "TNT." His first words to her were: "Well, ain't you somethin' else!"
Soon after, Tara got the title role on "Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater," which led to the opportunity of working in more than 20 animated series. Before she moved from Canada to Los Angeles, she starred in her own CBC sitcom, "Mosquito Lake." Her character's name? Tara.
Currently, when Tara is asked "Who has been the most gratifying character you have voiced?" she says "Melody in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. I don’t know what little girl’s dream was not to be the Little Mermaid." And, when asked which character she is the most like, Tara's reply always is "I am Bubbles."