Peter Cullen, the Canadian voice actor renowned for portraying Optimus Prime in numerous Transformers productions and Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh projects, passed away on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home at the age of 85. His agent, Kevin Motley, confirmed his death, stating Cullen died peacefully surrounded by family.
Cullen’s family released a statement requesting that his legacy be honored by serving communities and leading with compassion, integrity, and loyalty, and to always remember to be strong enough to be gentle. Beyond his iconic roles, Cullen also lent his voice to King Kong in the 1976 remake, the villainous K.A.R.R. in the Knight Rider series in 1982 and 2009, and created the distinctive clicking sounds for the monster in the 1987 film Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Early in his career, Cullen was a live-action performer and served as an announcer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. In a 2014 interview, Cullen expressed initial puzzlement about the Optimus Prime role, noting he was told the character was a hero and a truck. He secured the part and first voiced the Autobot leader in the 1984-87 syndicated series The Transformers, based on the Hasbro toy line.
The character’s death in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) sparked a significant public reaction, leading producers to bring Cullen and Optimus Prime back for the 1987 straight-to-video movie The Transformers: The Return of Optimus Prime. When director Michael Bay revived the franchise for the big screen with DreamWorks’ Transformers (2007), Cullen was rehired, describing the experience as slipping into comfortable old shoes.
The 2007 film, featuring Cullen as the Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck, grossed $709.7 million worldwide. He continued to voice Optimus Prime in sequels including Revenge of the Fallen (2009), which earned $836.3 million, and Dark of the Moon (2011) and Age of Extinction (2014), both of which grossed $1.1 billion. Cullen also voiced the character in The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018), and Rise of the Beasts (2023).
His work as Eeyore began with the 1988-91 series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and he continued in the role for the feature film Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) and other productions. Cullen was born Peter Claver Cullen in Montreal on July 28, 1941, to American parents Henry and Muriel. He graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1963 and studied acting under Bernard Diamant.
Cullen channeled his older brother, Larry, a decorated U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam, for the voice of Optimus Prime. He also voiced Autobots weapons specialist Ironhide, basing the character on actor Chill Wills. Cullen received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his performance in the first season of the 2010-13 series Transformers: Prime. His other voice roles included Monterey Jack on Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, Coran and King Alfor in the Lion Voltron series, and Mario in Saturday Supercade cartoons. Cullen was also involved with NASA and the Optimus Prime Spinoff Award, which recognizes young people studying space, science, technology, and math. He is survived by his children, Angus, Claire, Pilar, and Clay.
