Peter Cullen, Voice of Transformers’ Optimus Prime, Dies at 85

The voice that defined heroism for ’80s kids has died.

Peter Cullen, an actor best known as the resonant voice of Transformers’ Autobot leader Optimus Prime, passed away on Wednesday. According to TMZ, Cullen past away at his home in Los Angeles; no cause of death was given. Cullen was 85 years old.

Cullen was born in 1941 in Montreal and got his start working in radio in Canada. By the early 1980s he was in demand as a voice actor for animation; he contributed to series like The Smurfs, Scooby-Doo-and Scrappy-Doo, and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (where he voiced Bruce Banner and the Hulk, if you can believe it). His voice could be heard in most of the decade’s most famous cartoons, including Voltron, Rainbow Brite, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Real Ghostbusters, Muppet Babies, DuckTales, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Heathcliff, Mister T, and Dungeons & Dragons.

But of course Cullen’s signature role was as Transformers robot hero Optimus Prime. He originated the part on the original Transformers cartoon, continued playing the part when the cartoon moved to the big screen with 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie, then reprised it again when Michael Bay began the live-action Transformers film series in 2007.

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In 2006, Cullen said he based the voice of Optimus on his older Brother Larry, a former Marine who served in the Vietnam War.

“When he came home, I could see a change. He was quieter and he was a man and a hero to me,” Cullen said. “I watched him and listened to him. I’d never had an opportunity to do a superhero, and when that came, [that voice] just came right out of me and I sounded like Optimus.”

All told, Cullen played Prime in seven live-action Transformers movies, most recently in 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. A lot of the old Transformers from the cartoon had distinctive voices — Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave — but the only person who they kept bringing back for the movies was Cullen as Prime. He was essentially irreplaceable in the role.

This one hurts. This week, guys. This week. They always say this things come in threes, and in just the last few days we’ve lost Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and now Peter Cullen. No other beloved pop culture figures can die this week. I have had enough.