For every '90s kid, Moira Quirk was either your first crush, the person you aspired to
be, or both.
And then she seemed to just disappear.
So, what really happened to Mo from GUTS?
In a 2018 interview with Sports Illustrated, Quirk revealed that her role on GUTS came
out of the blue, and changed her life.
"I'd come to America [from England] to spend two weeks with my grandma, and I was working
at Universal Studios.
And that short trip just sort of became forever."
Quirk didn't actually know much about American sports, which was a bit of a problem since
she was the referee.
But GUTS co-creator and executive producer Albie Hecht told Sports Illustrated that he
felt her British accent gave her an air of authority.
"She was this beautiful little imp, the same size as the kids...They loved her; she made
them feel comfortable."
It will warm every '90s kid's nostalgic heart to know that Mo the Referee and GUTS host
Mike O'Malley are still good pals.
"What do you think?"
"Okay."
"White with black stripes, or black with white stripes?"
In fact, Quirk told the Miami New Times that other than her grandfather, O'Malley is still
the only person to use her nickname "Mo."
"No one else has really [called me that] before or since.
I don't think he's changed, even though his life has changed...He's actually really lovely,
and sensitive, and has a great deal of integrity.
He's a good guy!
He's one of the good guys.
He's very exuberant, and very A-type, but it's all from a very good place."
Quirk said that they keep in touch, but his busy acting career, which included roles on
the hit shows Yes, Dear and Glee, mean they don't talk as often as they would like.
She added,
"But we keep up with each other, and I'm always happy to hear what he's up to.
I did watch the first season of Glee and thought he was amazing."
They even reunited via animation in June 2016 to reprise their memorable Nickelodeon counterparts
on the "G.U.T.S.
Busters" episode of Sanjay and Craig.
Quirk could not have truly completed her GUTS experience without having a go on the show's
ultimate challenge: the iconic Aggro Crag.
In fact, she wrote on her website that she has a piece of the Aggro Crag, but wouldn't
ever sell it.
But the reason she won't give it up may not be what you think.
She told the Miami New Times,
"It's such a waste on me.
It's like, I hate it, but yeah, I'm keeping it!
Because I know that you want it."
Take that, nostalgia buffs!
Still, Quirk was probably joking, as her Twitter profile photo was once a picture of her with
her piece of the crag.
So it obviously holds a special place in her heart...even if she is pretending to be a
Grinch about it.
Just as Moira Quirk's hosting career on Nickelodeon came to a close, she married comedian Michael
Rayner in May 1996.
As she wrote on her website, the pair have, quote, "two daughters, one dog and a house
on the fault-line."
She told The Miami New Times,
"I am married, for many years, happily.
Very Americana.
We actually have a basketball hoop right above the garage this summer."
Aww!
But married life didn't slow her down, though, and neither did the end of GUTS.
In fact, the show's demise actually allowed her to pursue her real dream: voice-over work.
The cartoon-obsessed Quirk told The Miami New Times that eventually led to a dream come
true.
"My first animation job was at the Hanna-Barbera building, and I just about peed my pants,
I was so happy.
I love all of [the characters]: Magilla Gorilla, Hong Kong Fooey, Scooby Doo.
I'm going to toot my own horn, one of the most exciting moments of my life was a Scooby
Doo thing.
I got to say, 'And I would've done it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!'
And my life was complete!"
"I would have been famous if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
The voice actress' first job in animation was not only a dream come true, it also earned
her a coveted Screen Actors Guild card.
And between that work and her experience on GUTS, she ended up doing a lot of collaborations
with Nickelodeon.
Besides appearing as a guest on the panelist game show Figure It Out, she voiced several
characters on the network's classic cartoons, such as The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!,
and My Life as a Teenage Robot.
Over the years, Quirk has found a way to successfully balance her busy work life with her family.
She told Audio Girls,
"Voice-over allows me a schedule where I can spend a lot of time with [our daughters] and
pick them up from school.
But I still try and do plays...and stand-up comedy, but, oh!
That is a late night for momma!"
Yes, you heard that last bit right: Quirk is also a stand-up comedian!
You might not have guessed it from her infamous straight delivery on GUTS, but she wrote on
her website that she loves doing comedy, something she discovered almost by chance.
"One day I walked into an event called 'Anything But Stand-Up' run by Beverly Mickins.
That was my start.
For a year I went to nearly every coffee house open mic in LA, and then won the Uncle Clyde
Stand-Up Comedy Competition and got my first week at The Ice House in Pasadena.
I have since appeared in colleges and clubs and theatres around this great land, and LA."
And her stand-up routine has gotten her rave reviews.
LA Weekly wrote,
"Moira Quirk is aptly named playing a prim and proper British accent against a wicked
sense of humor and a touch of gleeful malice."
Besides voicework and stand-up, Quirk somehow also finds time to write.
And write a lot!
According to her website, Moira Quirk has written articles for various publications,
including the now defunct Wondertime Magazine and The Faster Times, as well as Baby Talk,
Hot Valley Writers, and The Story Salon Big Book of Stories.
And Quirk is also a successful playwright, penning several theater pieces in Los Angeles,
including Where are the Hands?, Domestic Bliss and Vaudeville, and A Post Modern Vaudeville
Show.
The latter was a successful two-person show she originally performed with her comedian
husband, Michael Rayner.
At the time, it was even chosen as LA Weekly's Pick of the Week.
What's next for this diverse writer?
She teased on her website,
"Currently I'm wondering if I can get it together to relive and write down as a Kindle single
my experiences for Nickelodeon and Viacom during the '90s.
Let me think on that one."
On behalf of every kid who once dreamed of competing on GUTS, yes please!
Quirk doesn't just do voicework for cartoons, though.
She has also branched out into video games, with her most popular character undoubtedly
being fan favorite Karliah in the 2011 Game of the Year Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The funny thing is, Quirk didn't even know what game she was working on, and has never
played it!
She told The Miami New Times,
"It was funny, because I started getting comments on my YouTube saying, 'You're Karliah!'
And then I realized, it was that game!
I didn't realize I'd done it.
It was called 'Dragon'-something at the time.
Are there dragons in it?
I haven't played it!
I'm head of the Thieves Guild, I know that much."
Quirk has also voiced other popular characters, such as Elara Dorne in 2011's Star Wars: The
Old Republic and Daniella in 2005's Haunting Ground.
And she can't quite get over how awesome her job is.
She wrote on her website,
"When I was a kid in the '80s, my family put together a Sinclair ZX81 computer from a kit
and played the Pong out of it.
I can't even get my head around how cool games are now...nor that I get to be in them!"
But, wait!
There's even more!
Quirk has also branched out even further into voicework.
Not only has she become a sought after audiobook narrator, she is an in-demand radio play voice
actress.
And she wrote on her website that it's another dream come true.
"When I was a young and keen drama student, I thought there could be nothing more wonderful
than doing radio plays for BBC radio.
Many years later and an ocean away, I get to do just that right here in sunny Cal-i-forn-eye-ay!
What?!...Radio is a wonderful and magical place where extraordinarily wonderful and
magical people create wonderful and magical art."
Quirk's work in this audio media realm is pretty extensive, as she often works in collaboration
with the BBC, LA Theatre Works, and NPR.
And that radio play experience brought her to the attention of the audiobook crowd, leading
to yet another whole new career.
But she told Audio Gals that doing radio plays was the perfect training for audiobooks.
"When I'm reading the book I'm looking for its tone and how that might change.
I'm noting the characters and their traits and whatever arc they might have.
I cast the book in my head like I might a play.
I've been a voice over artist for many years now, and I think all of us travel with a repertory
company in our heads, and so I pull out my readily available characters and create my
new characters to build my ensemble."
She must be doing something right: her very first solo narration, for Kristen Callihan's
Firelight, won a coveted Earphone Award.
For nearly two decades, Moira Quirk continued to focus on voice-over work, only rarely appearing
on screen.
But in 2012, she made her successful return on-camera in the twisted comedy web series
Dirty Work, which pioneered innovative interactive features.
Quirk told The Miami New Times,
"You can hear people's inner monologues.
The show will text you.
There's hidden things that you have to figure out.
Before, if you needed to do something while watching TV, you ate or did knitting.
But now, the TV will talk to you!"
Dirty Work ended up winning an Emmy for their creative work.
And that's not the only award Quirk and her projects have received over the years.
Besides the Emmy and her Earphone Award, she also won a cableACE for Nickelodeon's GUTS,
and won an Audie award as part of the cast of the audiobook for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Additionally, she's been nominated for an Ovation Award and several other Audie Awards.
Pretty awesome!
The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy might have ended with The Hidden World, but the
franchise is still kicking on the small screen with Dragons: Rescue Riders.
In February 2020, Netflix dropped the DreamWorks Animation series' second season which follows
twins Dak and Layla on a brand new adventure.
But they aren't the only characters in the show.
There's also Hannahr, who according to IMDB was voiced by Quirk in three of the season
one episodes.
It's unclear if she'll be back for more, but don't worry about Quirk, because she's staying
as busy as ever.
Beyond Dragons: Rescue Riders, she also voiced multiple roles in the TV series Castlevania,
and lent her talents to the hit video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Safe to say, Mo has come a long way from her days refereeing on GUTS, and with so many
irons in the fire, it seems like she still has a long way she wants to go.
We can't wait to see what she does next!
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