BART'S FEMININE SIDE; CARTWRIGHT WHIMSY SPEAKS VOLUMES.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Writer

You can almost hear Bart Simpson saying, ``Don't have a cow, man.''

But Nancy Cartwright, the woman who actually says the words, has ignored the advice.

The longtime voice of Bart has a life-size statue of a black-and-white cow on the lawn of her Northridge house.

As you walk through the multicolored gates of her one-acre homestead, it doesn't take long to realize that Cartwright has at least one thing in common with the eternally 10-year-old Bart - a sense of playfulness.

In fact, you get the feeling that if Bart were a decorator, this 1947 wood-framed farmhouse where the Andrews sisters once lived would be one of his creations.

Besides the star of the family's annual ``Happy Moo Year'' card, there are also a number of other animals - both living and replicas - prowling around the property. Among the living are four cats - Pip Pip, Cheerio, Emma and Chewie (short for Chewbacca) - two dogs - Lydia and Buddy (Lydia's friend) - a white bird named Eddie Murphy and a lizard. There used to be two lizards, but Chewie chewed one.

There are also figurines of the Seven Dwarfs, owls, icicle lights and a tree swing.

As you enter the house, one of the first things you see is a ``Simpsons'' pinball machine. Then, as your eyes bounce around the brightly colored rooms, you notice plastic lobsters, a nutcracker collection, giant stuffed animals and more tchotchkes than you'd find at the Aaahs warehouse.

Attention to detail is consistent throughout the house. Cartwright's office, which is a converted garage, had an unsightly beam cutting it in half. A little bit of burlap, some fake leaves and fruit, and the next thing you know, the beam becomes a banana tree. An ornate chandelier lights her desk.

``Every girl should have a banana tree and a chandelier,'' she said.

``My kids prefer Nancy's house to their own,'' said ``Simpsons'' executive producer Mike Scully. ``It's like going to Disneyland without having to make the ride all the way out to Anaheim.''

As for Cartwright, who lives in the four-bedroom, five-bath petting zoo with her husband, Warren Murphy, and children, Lucy, 8, and Jack, 7, she explains her choices this way: ``It's whimsical.''

Her surroundings are far more conspicuous than the star herself. Cartwright is able to play one of the most recognizable characters on television and has the luxury of hardly being recognized while moving about.

``The anonymity thing comes into play, and I can go where I want to and do what I want to do without my privacy being invaded,'' she said. ``I can go anywhere, and nobody knows that I'm this icon or a voice of an icon.''

Scully says that when ``The Simpsons'' was cast, ``We were looking for real actors, not just people with funny voices.''

Cartwright, has appeared on stage and in such films as ``Godzilla'' and ``Twilight Zone: The Movie,'' recently landed a movie role after telling the casting director she thought the character had ``big teeth.''

``Nancy has a great sense of fun,'' says Scully. ``She really understands the way a kid thinks. That's why she's such a great mom - and perfect for the role of Bart.''

Cartwright likes to put her celebrity and whimsy to good use.

Off to one end of her production studio is a workbench on which she does crafts projects to sell at charity auctions. She was delighted to hear that a plate she painted recently raised $500 for the Surf Rider Foundation, which was raising money to help clean up the beach in Malibu, previously ravaged by El Nino. The plate depicted Bart on a surfboard, holding a fishing line with a three-eyed fish dangling from it.

``She's always great to any kids who come to see a show recorded,'' says Scully. ``She always signs autographs and does the voice for them. I think she really knows what it's like for a kid to meet Bart.''

But Cartwright has a serious side, too.

On the walls of her office and production studio are charts that mark personal and professional progress. Cartwright, a Scientologist for the past decade, has adopted L. Ron Hubbard's administrative techniques, and points are assessed for any forward motion. For instance, booking an on-camera acting job is worth 1,000 points.

Cartwright is an outspoken advocate of the religion that has 8 million members worldwide.

``It is misunderstood, like all new religions,'' Cartwright said of Scientology. ``(Critics) just need to read a book to find out what it is. I wanted something very practical to give me stability. ... Certainly being an artist in Hollywood is an unstable profession,'' she said. ``Scientology gives me a basis from which to operate.''

And now Cartwright is moving beyond Bart. With her husband and Peter Kjenaas, she has formed Happy House Productions Inc. Its first motion picture, ``Gathering the Joneses,'' about a family patriarch who comes home after an 11-year visit to a convenience store, is scheduled to begin filming in January.

Sounds, well ... whimsical, and as serious as Cartwright is about Hollywood, whimsy is never far away.

Once she was on an airplane that was grounded for about an hour without air conditioning. So she offered to put her skills to good use by entertaining the disgruntled travelers with a little Bart Simpson performance, but the flight attendant wouldn't let her.

``I think it would have brought up the morale,'' Cartwright said. ``He should have let me do it.''

CAPTION(S):

7 Photos

Photo: (1--2--Color) Take a peek into the home of Bart Simpsons whimsical alter ego, Nancy Cartwright of Northridge.

(3--Color) ``The anonymity thing comes into play, and I can go where I want to and do what I want to do without my privacy being invaded,'' says Nancy Cartwright, the longtime voice of Bart Simpson.

(4--Color) It doesn't take long to realize that Cartwright has at least one thing in common with the eternally 10-year-old Bart - a sense of playfulness.

(5--Color) Says one ``Simpsons'' executive producer: ``My kids prefer Nancy's house to their own.''

(6--Color) You get the feeling that if Bart were a decorator, this 1947 wood-framed farmhouse where the Andrews sisters once lived would be one of his creations.

(7--Color) In Cartwright's house, a 1992 Emmy award serves multiple purposes.

Andy Holzman/Daily News