By Leo Nieves
Peter Cullen, the voice actor of the Auto-bots leader Optimus Prime, died at age 85. Cullen was born on July 28, 1941 in Montreal, Canada and died on August 26, 2026. He started his career in 1960 in Canadian television, then worked as a series regular and impressionist on The Sonny & Cher Comedy hour from 1971 to 1974. After that he transitioned to voice acting and did voice acting for a French-Canadian children’s show. He also provided sound effects for big Hollywood films and did roars for King Kong (1976).
In the 1980 he secured major voice roles in animated shows like G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Dungeons and Dragons, Spider-man and His Amazing Friends, and he voiced Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk). But in 1984 before he went to his audition, his brother Larry Cullen asked Cullen what he was going to do today, and Peter said he was going to audition for what he described a “hero truck” and his brother said to him “Peter, if you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be a Hollywood hero type with all the yelling and screaming and trying to be tough…be strong enough to be gentle.” Two weeks later Peter got the part of Optimus Prime and Iron Hide. Peter didn’t really think much about it, he only thought “I got another cartoon job.” But then Optimus Prime became an iconic character and his popularity grew enormously. So then Peter went from being a regular voice actor to being known as the man who voices legendary icon Optimus Prime.
When the first Transformers movie came out, when Optimus Prime was killed Peter disliked that his character was killed off. He also said in an interview he “hated the idea.” Also due to Optimus Prime’s death fans were “Shocked, heartbroken, and traumatized.” In one article it said “Optimus Prime’s death evoked significant shock and despair among children, resulting in widespread crying, parental anger, toy returns, and considerable media scrutiny.” Parents were angry because they did not expect a beloved cartoon hero to be killed off so abruptly. Although he did end up doing Optimus Prime voice in future projects.
After the G1 Transformers he did some other voices like Eeyore the sad donkey in Winnie the Pooh, Monterey Jack from the Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, and even some of the voice effects for the alien move Predator where he did the Predator’s clicking and roar effects.
After a long time in 2007 Peter Cullen returned as Optimus Prime for Michael Bay’s Transformers Live Action Movie and continued to voice him throughout the Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise.
But on the day of August 26, 2026, Cullen passed away at his house in Los Angeles. His official death was cardiac arrest due to respiratory arrest which is caused by malignant neoplasm, a cancerous tumor in his lungs. His family said “Peter Cullen passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, and held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide.” Rest in Peace to Peter Cullen. 🕊
