Optimus Prime Voice Peter Cullen Dies at 85
Optimus Prime Voice Peter Cullen Dies at 85
The News
Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, has died at 85.
The Sun reported that Cullen died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and that his cause of death is not known.
The Hollywood Reporter described him as a theater-trained Canadian actor whose credits went well beyond Transformers: he created sounds for King Kong and the Predator, and he voiced Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh's gloomy friend.
Timeline
Cullen dies at his home in Los Angeles, according to The Sun.
TMZ is first to report the death.
The Hollywood Reporter publishes a full obituary covering his Transformers, Winnie the Pooh and sound-design work.
CTV News reports the death of "the Canadian voice of Optimus Prime," citing multiple reports.
Reactions
No statement from Cullen's family had been released as of publication, and the outlets carrying the news early Thursday did not report one.
Coverage on both sides of the border leaned on the same idea: that a generation of American children knew the leader of the Autobots entirely through Cullen's voice. CTV News led with his Canadian roots; The Sun called him a "legendary" voice actor.
What's Next
A cause of death has not been announced. Funeral or memorial arrangements have not been made public.
More
Cullen's range is the part of his résumé most people never connected to him. Beyond Optimus Prime, per The Hollywood Reporter, he built the sound of two of the movies' best-known monsters — King Kong and the Predator — and played Eeyore, a role about as far from a heroic robot commander as a voice can get.
The Frank will update this story as details are confirmed.
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