Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime for four decades, has passed away. He was 85. The actor died at his home in Los Angeles, his agent confirmed to TMZ on Wednesday. His family, in a statement to the outlet, called him a man “held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide.” They asked fans to honor his legacy by “serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity and loyalty,” closing with a line pulled from his own philosophy: “be strong enough to be gentle.” No cause of death has been disclosed.
Notably, Cullen’s death occurred hours after a false online report concerning the actor’s death circulated on social media. Several media outlets have since outed the anonymous account responsible for spreading the misleading information. However, Wednesday’s confirmation from his agent and family puts that earlier hoax to rest, even as it delivers the real news fans had feared.
For most of the world, Cullen was simply Optimus Prime. He took this role in 1984, when the original Transformers animated series premiered, and he never left it. All of its major iterations after that have included his voice, including the 1986 animated film, followed by the Michael Bay-directed blockbusters starting in 2007, Transformers: Prime, Rescue Bots, and several video games. His performance in Transformers: Prime, which was released in 2010, earned him a Daytime Emmy nomination.
Cullen did not invent Optimus Prime’s voice. Rather, he based it on his older brother Larry, a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam between 1965 and 1968. In a 2006 interview with Zap2it, the actor revealed: “When he came home, I could see a change. He was quieter, and he was a man and a superhero to me. I watched him and listened to him. I’d never had an opportunity to do a superhero, and when that came, [that voice] just came right out of me and I sounded like Optimus.”
The Montreal-native actor’s talents extended far beyond one robot leader. In addition to voicing the perpetually moody Eeyore across several Winnie the Pooh projects, he gave King Kong his roar for the 1976 remake and supplied the unsettling clicking noises for the sci-fi monster at the heart of Predator. He also portrayed Ironhide, basing the character’s gruffness on the classic Western actor Chill Wills, and more recently, Thaedus in the animated series Invincible.
Peter Cullen is survived by his family, who say they will continue celebrating the “remarkable legacy” he leaves behind.
