Peter Cullen, the long-time voice actor best known for voicing Optimus Prime in The Transformers, died on August 30, 2026 at the age of 85. Cullen’s deep, authoritative performance defined the character across decades of animated series, films, and video games, including Transformers: Devastation and Fall of Cybertron.
Beyond Optimus Prime, Cullen lent his voice to a wide range of roles, from Venger in Dungeons & Dragons to Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh and Monterey Jack in Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers. His work extended to video games, where he voiced Mario in Saturday Supercade and Pac-Man’s pet cat in the Pac-Man animated series, making him the first English actor to portray Mario.
Cullen also appeared in Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans as Orgrim Doomhammer, a role tied to the cancelled Blizzard adventure game that later became playable online. His passing follows a string of recent losses in entertainment, including Dolly Parton and Tim Curry.
