Transformers star Peter Cullen dead at 85: Actor voiced Optimus Prime and also played Winnie the Pooh’s Eeyore
Acclaimed voice actor Peter Cullen, best known as Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, has died at the age of 85.
Cullen played the alien robot on the classic 1980s animated series as well as the string of hit live-action movies directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf.
Fans of retro children’s television may also recognize him as the voice of Eeyore on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which ran from 1988 to 1991.
His agent disclosed that Cullen died at his home in Los Angeles this Wednesday but did not specify a cause, according to TMZ.
‘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.
‘His family asks that you honor his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember “be strong enough to be gentle,”‘ their statement continued.
Acclaimed voice actor Peter Cullen, best known as Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, has died at the age of 85; pictured 2023
Cullen played the alien robot on the classic 1980s animated series as well as the string of hit live-action movies; the character is pictured in the 2014 film Transformers: Age of Extinction
Peter Claver Cullen was born in Montreal in 1941 and grew up with three siblings – one of whom, his brother Larry, was the basis for Optimus Prime’s voice.
Although he initially nurtured dreams of being a serious actor, studying Shakespeare as part of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada, he ‘soon came to the conclusion that I really wasn’t cut out to be the artsy guy,’ he said.
‘I had too much fun. I had followed the experience of grade school and high school by being the clown,’ he shared in an interview with The Young Folks.
Cullen jobbed around in Montreal on local film and TV and began working nightclub revues, where he honed his talent for assuming a variety of accents and characters.
With his young wife and child in tow, he struck out to Hollywood for a show in the style of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In that flopped, leaving him scrambling to pick up the pieces and eventually landing an announcing job on The Sonny & Cher Show.
It was his friend Jonathan Winters, the iconic comedian and star of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, who advised him: ‘You know, Peter, what you ought to is, you ought to do your voices. Those voices, you could make a lot of bread.’
