Peter Cullen has passed away. The iconic voice behind Optimus Prime from the Transformers franchise died at the age of 85 on Wednesday in his home in Los Angeles.
The news of Cullen’s passing was relayed to The Hollywood Reporter by his agent, Kevin Motley. According to Cullen’s family, the Canadian actor “passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family — and held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide.” The family asked fans to “honor 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 entered into the entertainment industry in 1967 as an announcer in The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Following that role, the actor went on to work on several projects over the following decades, with one of his earliest breaks being the voice of King Kong in the 1976 film. The Canadian actor voiced many characters over the years in films like Gallavants, Gremlins, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Smurfs, and more.
It didn’t take long for Cullen to land the role of his most iconic character: Optimus Prime. The actor started voicing the alien robot in the 1980s animated series and remained the de facto voice actor for the role for decades. Cullen voiced Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, in the 1986 animated film, and reprised the role in Michael Bay’s 2007 film. Since then, the actor has voiced Optimus in every mainline Transformers film and video game until 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Besides voicing Optimus Prime, Cullen also played Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh franchise and K.A.R.R. in Knight Rider. He also voiced the iconic alien villain in the Predator franchise. His last credits include Invincible and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Cullen is survived by his brother Larry and four children, Angus, Claire, and Pilar.
SuperHeroHype sends condolences to Peter Cullen’s friends and family at this time.
Originally reported by Rahul Majumdar on ComingSoon.
