Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in ‘Transformers’, dead at 85
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Canadian actor Peter Cullen, best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, has died aged 85 at his Los Angeles home. His family said he died peacefully on 26 August 2026, surrounded by relatives, and asked fans to honour his legacy through compassion, integrity, loyalty and community service. His death marks the loss of a voice actor closely associated with several enduring film and television characters.
Born in Montreal in 1941, Cullen began his career in Canadian entertainment and later worked on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour before taking on Optimus Prime in the 1980s animated series. He based the character partly on his brother Larry, a former US Marine captain, and most recently voiced Optimus in 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which took more than $440 million worldwide. Cullen also voiced Eeyore, K.A.R.R. in Knight Rider and the Predator; he is survived by four children: Angus, Claire, Pilar and Clay.
- Transformers voice actor Peter Cullen has died aged 85.
- He voiced Optimus Prime from the 1980s to 2023.
- Cullen is survived by his four children.
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Transformers is a long-running science-fiction series about robots from another planet who can change into vehicles and machines. Its central conflict is between the heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, and their rivals the Decepticons, and it has appeared in cartoons, comics, toys and big-budget films since the 1980s.
Optimus Prime is the best-known character in the franchise and is usually portrayed as a calm, principled leader. Peter Cullen provided the character’s English-language voice in the original animated series and in many later productions, helping to give the role a consistent sound across generations.
Voice actors perform characters without appearing on screen, often becoming closely identified with roles that audiences hear repeatedly over many years. Cullen also worked on other prominent television and film characters, making him a familiar voice to viewers of several popular franchises.
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