{"id":4252,"date":"2026-08-27T20:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4252"},"modified":"2026-08-27T20:35:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:35:28","slug":"peter-cullen-prolific-voice-actor-who-gave-optimus-prime-his-authoritative-baritone-has-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4252","title":{"rendered":"Peter Cullen, prolific voice actor who gave Optimus Prime his authoritative baritone, has died"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
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By MARK KENNEDY<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Peter Cullen, a prolific voice actor who enlivened scores of TV series, specials and movies, including Optimus Prime in the syndicated 1984 series \u201cTransformers\u201d and Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh cartoon franchise, has died. He was 85.<\/p>\n

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His agent, Kevin Motley, said Cullen died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. \u201cHis family asks that you honor his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember \u2018be strong enough to be gentle,\u2019\u201d said a family statement.<\/p>\n

Cullen\u2019s career spanned from being an announcer at the groundbreaking late-1960s comedy and variety series \u201cThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour\u201d to \u201cThe Smurfs\u201d and multiple G.I. Joe iterations, but he struck a nerve as Optimus Prime.<\/p>\n

While the original cartoon ran just a few years, it left an indelible mark on pop culture, with a toy line, spinoff cartoon series and comics produced over the next two decades. That culminated in the launch of a multibillion-dollar, live-action film franchise in 2007 by Michael Bay.<\/p>\n

Before his audition, Cullen only knew that he would be reading for the part of a truck, though giving voice to a vehicle didn\u2019t seem that crazy. \u201cYou\u2019re always auditioning for something in animation that\u2019s a little off of the norm,\u201d Cullen told the AP in 2019.<\/p>\n

When Cullen read about the heroic Autobot leader that turned into a red cabover semitrailer, he thought about his older brother, who had served as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was my hero, and he certainly was the mainstay behind the character,\u201d Cullen said. \u201cI just did an impression of Larry, and he\u2019s still alive in my mind today because every time I do Prime, there\u2019s my brother Larry.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cullen\u2019s authoritative baritone as Optimus Prime also appeared in 2009\u2019s \u201cTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen\u201d through \u201cDark of the Moon,\u201d \u201cAge of Extinction,\u201d \u201cThe Last Knight,\u201d \u201cBumblebee\u201d and \u201cRise of the Beasts\u201d in 2023.<\/p>\n

His thoughtful, almost operatic lines would be quoted for decades by kids and adults alike: \u201cI am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here. We are waiting,\u201d he said in the first movie. In another, he intoned: \u201cFate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other highlights from Cullen\u2019s prolific career include voicing Eeyore across various \u201cWinnie-the-Pooh\u201d projects, including Disney\u2019s \u201cThe New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh\u201d TV series that aired from 1988-91, as well as voicing the villainous KARR opposite KITT in the 1980s NBC series \u201cKnight Rider,\u201d and lending his pipes to King Kong in the Jeff Bridges-led \u201cKing Kong\u201d remake in 1976.<\/p>\n

Cullen would attend conventions around the country to meet with fans from multiple generations, often getting teary. He said parents sometimes got more excited than their children meeting him.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI expect that I will run into a father with his son, and the father will more than likely get choked up,\u201d Cullen said before MegaCon Orlando in 2019. \u201cAnd then I get choked up, and then the kid is saying \u2018What are these two grown men getting choked up about?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cullen is survived by his four children, Angus, Claire, Pilar and Clay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Cullen, the iconic voice actor behind Optimus Prime and Eeyore, has died at 85. 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