R.I.P. Peter Cullen, Transformers' Optimus Prime

Peter Cullen, the legendary voice actor known for his rumbling performance as Autobot leader Optimus Prime in The Transformers animated series and live-action franchise, died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday, according to his manager.

The fatherly Montreal-born actor was known for his extensive vocal credits across television, film, and video games, becoming the face and rallying voice behind the Transformers franchise across its many incarnations, as well as an enduring presence as the gentle-and-drowsy Eeyore in various Winnie The Pooh series and films for Disney. The actor bridged the gap between pop culture fandom and STEM academia as the ambassador for the NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Promotion and Research Challenge (OPSPARC), which awards young students who excel in math, science, technology, and space.

Space would be a recurring motif throughout his life. Cullen began his five-decade career in 1969 as Québécois astronaut Commander Bi Bi Latuque on The Buddies for CFCF (now CTV Montreal). That role led to a gig announcing The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, the variety show that also launched the careers of Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, and fellow voice actor Lorenzo Music (The Real Ghostbusters, Garfield And Friends). From there, Cullen appeared in The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour alongside Buddies co-star Ted Zeigler beginning in 1971. “It ended up being a series and for four years I, you know, I could make the house payments and lived happily ever after,” he told NPR’s All Things Considered in 2014.

After the Sonny & Cher TV run ended in 1974, Cullen’s career consisted of supporting voice credits in animated series such as Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo, The Smurfs, and Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends (where he voiced characters such as Mysterio, Red Skull, and the Hulk). His willingness to lend his voice to vivid cartoon characters led to an audition for a role that would define his career. “I was living with my brother Larry at the time,” he told NPR. “He had returned from service as a Marine in Vietnam. And I told him one day I was going out to audition for a truck. And he says, ‘a truck?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but he’s a hero truck.'”

Beginning in 1984, Cullen became the leading voice behind The Transformers, the popular animated series based on the Hasbro toy line, voicing Optimus Prime until the hero’s untimely demise in 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie. That moment proved controversial, sparking public outcry that led to an almost immediate reversal in “The Return Of Optimus Prime,” a two-part epic in The Transformers‘ third season. After seemingly retiring the character, Cullen kept busy voicing Eeyore in various Disney Winnie The Pooh TV and film entries from the late 80s through 2002, reprising the role in 2017’s Disney Junior series, Doc McStuffins.