“Babe,” “Rugrats” voice actress dies at 51

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Christine Cavanaugh, a prolific voice actress whose characters included the titular character of "Babe," has died. She was 51.

Cavanaugh's sister Deionn Masock confirmed Tuesday that Cavanaugh died Dec. 22 at her home in Utah. An obituary notice was also published in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times.

Masock says the cause of death isn't known.

Cavanaugh lent her voice to many of the 1990s indelible cartoon characters, including Chuckie Finster in Nickelodeon's "Rugrats," Dexter on the Cartoon Network's "Dexter's Laboratory" and the live-action piglet of 1995's "Babe."

Cavanaugh retired from voice acting in 2001 and moved back to her native Utah.

In the LA Times notice, her family wrote that "in each role there was a part of her showing through that the ones who truly knew her could see."

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)