Peter Cullen, the Canadian voice acting master known for voicing Optimus Prime in Transformers and for his role in the early Super Mario animated series, passed away at his home in Los Angeles on August 26, 2026, at the age of 85. Reports state that his family was by his side when he passed.
Cullen's acting career spanned a full six decades. He began his career in 1967 as a television announcer, and his voice has since featured in numerous TV shows, films, and video games. He received an Emmy nomination in 2011 and was awarded the Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
For gamers, Cullen is best known for his role as Optimus Prime. Between 2007 and 2016, he voiced the character in 12 different Transformers games across multiple console generations, with his final game appearance being in Transformers: Earth Wars.
His final appearance in the gaming world came in 2023, when he once again voiced Optimus Prime in Fortnite. Additionally, he served as the narrator for Crystal Crisis in 2019 and twice voiced Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh in Disney Magic Kingdoms 2 (2016) and the stylistically eerie Piglet's Big Game. In television, he joined the Invincible series in 2023, voicing Thaedus, a role that continued through the show's 2026 content. His voice has also been a staple in trailers, commercials, and as the announcer for Cartoon Network's "Toonami" programming block.
One lesser-known "regret" in Cullen's voice acting career was Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, a canceled project in the Warcraft series. In the mid-1990s, Blizzard Entertainment developed this adventure game set after Warcraft II and invited Cullen to participate in the voice recording. Blizzard collaborated with Animation Magic, the studio behind the CD-i Zelda games, but the project was ultimately canceled in 1998, and the voice material Cullen recorded for it was never officially released.
Cullen's passing marks another heavy loss for the classic gaming and film/TV voice acting community this month. Earlier this month, Hayden Panettiere, who voiced Kairi in Kingdom Hearts, passed away. Tim Curry, the renowned actor who appeared in games such as Dragon Age: Origins, Wing Commander III, and The Lost Vikings, also passed away on August 25, the day before Cullen.