Peter Cullen, a prolific voice actor who enlivened scores of television series, specials and films—including Optimus Prime in the syndicated 1984 show "Transformers" and Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh cartoon franchise—has died. He was 85.
His agent, Kevin Motley, stated that Cullen died Wednesday at his Los Angeles home.
"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,'" read a statement from his family.
Cullen's career spanned from serving as an announcer on the groundbreaking late-1960s comedy and variety show "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" to "The Smurfs" and several "G.I. Joe" projects, but he struck an enduring chord as Optimus Prime.
Though the original cartoon ran for only a few years, it left a deep mark on pop culture, generating a toy line, spinoff cartoons, and comic books over the next two decades.
This culminated in 2007 with Michael Bay's launch of a multibillion-dollar, live-action movie franchise.
Prior to auditioning, Cullen only knew he was reading for the role of a truck, though voicing a vehicle did not strike him as unusual. "You’re always auditioning for something in animation that’s a little off of the norm," Cullen told the AP in 2019.
When Cullen read the material for the heroic Autobot leader turning into a red cabover semitrailer, he remembered his older brother, who served as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War.
"He was my hero, and he certainly was the mainstay behind the character," Cullen said. "I just did an impression of Larry, and he’s still alive in my mind today because every time I do Prime, there’s my brother Larry."
Cullen’s commanding baritone as Optimus Prime returned in 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" through "Dark of the Moon," "Age of Extinction," "The Last Knight," "Bumblebee," and 2023's "Rise of the Beasts."
His thoughtful, almost operatic lines were quoted for decades by fans of all ages: "I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here. We are waiting," he said in the first film. In another, he intoned: "Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
Other career highlights included voicing Eeyore across various "Winnie-the-Pooh" productions, such as Disney’s "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" TV series from 1988-91, voicing the villainous KARR opposite KITT in the 1980s NBC series "Knight Rider," and lending his vocal skills to King Kong in the 1976 Jeff Bridges-led remake.
Cullen frequently attended conventions nationwide to meet fans across generations, often becoming tearful. He observed that parents were sometimes even more excited than their children to meet him.
"I expect that I will run into a father with his son, and the father will more than likely get choked up," Cullen said before MegaCon Orlando in 2019. "And then I get choked up, and then the kid is saying ‘What are these two grown men getting choked up about?’"
Cullen is survived by his four children, Angus, Claire, Pilar and Clay.
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