Peter Cullen, the voice behind Optimus Prime in the Transformers series, has died at 85.
Cullen passed away on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. His agent, Kevin Motley, confirmed the news to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
The cause of his death has not been shared.
His family stated he “passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, and held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide.”
They urged fans to “honour his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember ‘be strong enough to be gentle.”
Cullen’s career went across television, films, video games, and theme park rides with over 200 credits.
He also played the giant ape in the 1976 remake of King Kong and featured as KARR, the villainous car in the Knight Rider series. He voiced the alien hunter in the original Predator movie.
But Cullen is mainly remembered for his work in animation and kids' shows, especially during the 1980s and 1990s.
He started voicing Optimus Prime in the 1980s animated Transformers series, known to fans as “G1” or “Generation 1.”
He also voiced the character in The Transformers: The Movie from 1986.
When the franchise took to live action in Michael Bay’s 2007 movie Transformers, Cullen returned to voice Optimus Prime.
He continued in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), and Transformers: The Last Knight (2017).
Cullen also voiced Optimus Prime in the 2018 prequel Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023).
He was also the voice of Eeyore, the gloomy donkey in Winnie the Pooh. He first voiced Eeyore in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which ran from 1988 to 1991.
Cullen continued as Eeyore in several other projects, including The Tigger Movie (2000), Piglet’s Big Movie (2003), and The Book of Pooh series.
In 2011, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his work as Optimus Prime in Transformers: Prime. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Children’s and Family Emmy Awards in 2023.
Born Peter Claver Cullen on July 28, 1941, in Montreal, he was one of four children to American parents Henry and Muriel Cullen.
He graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1963 and later performed Shakespeare in Stratford, Ontario, before joining the repertory company at Toronto’s Crest Theatre.
Cullen is survived by his four children, Angus, Claire, Pilar, and Clay, as reported by the Associated Press.
Drop your comment
No comments yet — be the first to drop the gist 👇