Cartoon voice actor Peter Cullen dies at 85

Quad City Times reports the animation voice actor Peter Cullen, most notable for playing the voice of Optimus Prime in the original 1984-87 Transformers series, died at 85 years of age:

Peter Cullen, who gave Optimus Prime his iconic voice in the "Transformers" franchise, has died. He was 85.

Cullen died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday, his agent, Kevin Motley, confirmed to USA Today.

"Peter Cullen passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family – and held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide," his family said in a statement. A cause of death has not yet been shared publicly.

Cullen voiced Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, in "Transformers," starting with the original animated series in the 1980s and continuing all the way into the modern live-action movies. He brought the character to the big screen in "The Transformers: The Movie," which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The 1986 film famously devastated fans by killing off Optimus Prime, though the character later returned. [...]

In a 2011 interview with USA Today, Cullen revealed how he was inspired by his brother, a former captain in the Marine Corps, when he first auditioned for the role. "One morning when I was on my way to the audition, he asked me where I was going and I told him 'I'm about to audition for a hero and it’s a truck,'" Cullen recalled. "He laughed, and I laughed, too, because I had no idea what I was getting into. He said, 'Peter, don't be a Hollywood hero. Don't be one of those loudmouths yelling and screaming and pretending. Be a real hero and you can be strong enough to be gentle and understanding.' It was the character of a Marine who was talking. His timbre is very similar to mine to begin with, so it was easy to impersonate him, and the tone he gave me to set the audition was perfect." [...]

"I love characters who do good or make people feel good," he said.

I think his inspirations were great. Of course, it's still a shame Hasbro had to spend millions of dollars on a whole cartoon movie in 1986 to make the point of jettisoning Optimus from their toy line, along with several other models, when here, they could've just canceled the models quietly and minimized the damage. They did the right thing to reverse the demise of Optimus, but I can't remember if they ever did the same with Wheeljack and Ironhide, in example.

That said, Cullen had an impressive career in cartoon voice acting, and he'll be missed.