Actor Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime and Eeyore, dies aged 85
Canadian-born voice actor Peter Cullen, best known for voicing Optimus Prime in Transformers and Eeyore in Disney's Winnie the Pooh, has died aged 85 at his Los Angeles home.
Voice actor Peter Cullen, whose distinctive delivery shaped several beloved animated and film characters over decades, died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to a family statement. He was 85.
Born in Montreal, Cullen became internationally known as the voice of Optimus Prime, the honourable leader of the Autobots, starting with the Transformers television series in 1984. He reprised the role in seven Hollywood Transformers films released between 2007 and 2023, as well as various related spinoffs.
Beyond Optimus Prime, Cullen was widely recognised for voicing the melancholic donkey Eeyore in Disney's The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh television series, which began in the late 1980s, along with numerous other Winnie the Pooh shows, films and games.
His career also included voicing King Kong's roars for the 1976 remake and playing KARR, the villainous counterpart to KITT, in Knight Rider in both 1982 and 2009. Cullen is additionally credited with devising the eerie clicking sounds made by the creature in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Predator.
His family said Cullen passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones and remembered by countless friends and fans around the world, and asked that his legacy be honoured through community service and leading others with compassion, integrity and loyalty.
Cullen began his career in Canadian television and radio before appearing regularly on programmes such as The Sonny & Cher Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, eventually shifting his focus to voice acting. He said Optimus Prime's commanding tone was inspired by his older brother Larry, a retired US Marine Corps captain and Vietnam War veteran, who advised him to portray the character as a genuine hero rather than a theatrical one. Cullen shared part of his Optimus Prime earnings with Larry until his brother's death in 2011.
The role earned Cullen a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2011, and in 2023 he received a lifetime achievement award at the Children's & Family Emmy Awards.
