If you are a fan of 80s and 90s cars, giant Japanese robots, or the golden age of Saturday morning cartoons, your childhood was graced by the voice of Peter Cullen. The Canadian voice actor played a role in all of the above, and there is no doubt much overlap between these fandoms and the average JNC reader. Cullen passed away on August 26 at the age of 85.
Born in Montreal, Quebec in 1941, Cullen was a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada in 1963. He initially worked as a radio announcer and DJ, before transitioning into television. He served as the announcer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and was a series regular performer on The Sonny & Cher Show. He also played an astronaut named Commander Bi Bi Latuque in a local Canadian children’s program.
Cullen would land his biggest role in 1984 when he became the voice of Optimus Prime in the original Transformers. The animated series provided a story and personalities for a line of Japanese robot toys that turned into vehicles, and Cullen’s Prime was leader of the heroic Autobots whose alternate form was a Freightliner FL86 cab-over truck.
Lesser known is the fact that Cullen voiced two other notable characters in the series: Ironhide, the grizzled veteran that transformed into a C120 Datsun Vanette Coach, and Streetwise, the Protectobot whose vehicle mode was a Z31 Nissan 300ZX police car.
Cullen’s considerable resume extended far beyond Transformers. In no particular order, he also provided voices for Voltron, GoBots, Scooby-Doo, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, G.I. Joe, DuckTales, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the live-action Knight Rider, where he gave life to KITT’s evil twin KARR. He even provided the clicks and gurgles for the alien in the movie Predator. And the list goes on.
In other words, unless you lived under a rock there was no escaping his many works. Cullen continued to voice act well into his 80s. His final role was in the 2023-26 animated superhero series Invincible. Peter Cullen’s voice was the definitive soundtrack of a generation. Though the doors have closed on an extraordinary career, his legacy will roll on forever.
