Editing Yeardley Smith (section)

===Early career===
Smith became a professional actress in 1982.<ref name= local/><ref name=austele/> After appearances in a number of school plays, she joined the local [[Arena Stage]] theater group on an apprenticeship, featuring in their production of ''[[Peter and Wendy|Peter Pan]]''. She went on to star in several other plays in Washington.<ref name=local/> She moved to New York City in 1984 and appeared in the Broadway production of [[Tom Stoppard]]'s play ''[[The Real Thing (play)|The Real Thing]]'' alongside [[Jeremy Irons]] and [[Glenn Close]].<ref name=love/><ref name="Town"/>

Smith's first film role came in ''[[Heaven Help Us (film)|Heaven Help Us]]'' (1985).<ref name=love/> She then played Putter in ''[[The Legend of Billie Jean]]'' (also 1985). The film was a [[box office bomb]] and critically panned, although Smith "thought it would be the movie that launched my career. And then it was out at the box office about 10 days before it died."<ref name=targum/> When filming was over, she rejoined ''The Real Thing'' before being out of work for six months. Smith worried her career was over.<ref name=love/> However, the following year, she played Connie in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Maximum Overdrive]]'' (1986), noting it was "truly a dreadful film, but I had a great part in it."<ref name=love/>

Smith moved to Los Angeles in 1986 on the "semi-promise" of a part in a TV film.<ref name="Steps"/><ref name=love/> After the audition, the role was given to another actress. Smith realized "that people don't mean what they say. It's not malicious. They just don't realize how much impact they have on an impressionable actor – and all actors are impressionable." From then on, she decided to "just sort of build a wall around myself", to cope with the disappointment of not getting a part.<ref name=love/> In Los Angeles, Smith appeared in theatrical productions of ''Living on Salvation Street'', for which she was paid $14 for each performance,<ref name= austele/> ''Boys and Girls/Men and Women'', and ''[[How the Other Half Loves]]'', and played the recurring role of Louella Waters on the [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] series ''[[Brothers (1984 TV series)|Brothers]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brothers on Showtime|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/brothers/200260|work=[[TV Guide]]|access-date=April 3, 2009|archive-date=July 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723201552/http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/brothers/200260|url-status=live}}</ref> She appeared in the films ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' and ''[[Ginger Ale Afternoon]]'' (1989) as "trailer-park girls".<ref name="Steps"/> She later spoke of her regrets of appearing in the latter in her one-woman show ''More''.<ref>{{Cite web|title= "The Simpsons" Actress Yeardley Smith Brings Her More to Los Angeles|last= Hernandez|first= Ernio|work= [[Playbill]]|url= http://www.playbill.com/news/article/90684-The_Simpsons_Actress_Yeardley_Smith_Brings_Her_More_to_Los_Angeles|archive-url= https://archive.today/20120911153338/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/90684-The_Simpsons_Actress_Yeardley_Smith_Brings_Her_More_to_Los_Angeles|url-status= dead|archive-date= September 11, 2012|date= January 19, 2005|access-date= May 24, 2009}}</ref>