Peter Cullen, possessor of the greatest voice known to man, has died at the age of 85.
Cullen is best known to most of us as the voice of Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots in the 1980s cartoon series, Transformers.
I’ve still not gotten over Prime’s death in Transformers: the movie (1986). But for Peter Cullen, death was a mere temporary inconvenience. He went on to play the iconic role for over 40 years in various iterations of Transformers across television, movies and video games.
Other actors may have voiced Optimus Prime on occasion, but Peter Cullen was Optimus. I still recall the collective sigh of relief from geeks all around the globe when Michael Bay, after much speculation, finally cast him in his live action Transformers movie in 2007.
The number of credits to Cullen’s name is impressive – 216 on IMDB. My son used to watch the Disney Winnie the Pooh series. Imagine my shock when I heard Cullen’s distinctive drawl voicing the depressed donkey, Eeyore.
Roles I didn’t know about, mainly because they went uncredited, include voiceover work for King Kong (1976), Gremlins (1984) and Predator (1987). Wait, was it Cullen saying this line?
I won’t look it up. It has to be him. Not sure how I’ve missed it this long.
Rest easy, Mr Cullen. May the ongoing power of the Matrix light our darkest hour. ‘Til all are one.
