Peter Cullen
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- For the Australian water scientist, see Peter Cullen (scientist).
| Peter Cullen | |
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 Peter Cullen at BotCon '07 |
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| Born | 1944 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Years active | 1962 — present |
Peter Cullen, born in 1944 in Montreal, Canada[1] , is a voice actor who is best known for providing the voices for Optimus Prime and Ironhide, in the original Transformers series and the narrator in both American Voltron series (he would subsequently reprise the role of Optimus Prime in the 2007 live action Michael Bay feature film Transformers). In addition, he has played Coran and King Alfor in the Lion Voltron series, the transforming spaceship/robot Ramrod in the '80s anime series Saber Rider And The Star Sheriffs, Commander James Hawkins in the Vehicle Voltron series, Eeyore in Winnie-the-Pooh, KARR in Knight Rider, Antor and Bomba, and Gunner, in Dino-Riders, and Mantus in The Pirates of Dark Water.
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[edit] Voice work
In the 1980s and the 1990s, Cullen appeared on a number of television shows, including My Little Pony, Filmation's Ghostbusters, The Smurfs, Dungeons & Dragons as Venger, Snorks, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry Kids Show, DuckTales, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Challenge of the GoBots, Rude Dog and the Dweebs as Herman, Rainbow Brite as Murky Dismal, The Biskitts as Scratch, Robotix, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, The Little Engine That Could as Pete, the powerful freight engine, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, The Jetsons and Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. He also had a voice part in Gremlins as a gremlin and Knight Rider as KARR. He also did voicework in "The Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible" series, notably as the king of Ninevah in the Jonah episode.
Among many other television shows and movies, he has also lent his basso voice to many movie trailers and television commercials, including announcing for Toonami on the Cartoon Network. Cullen spent some of his early professional years in Montreal as a radio announcer/DJ on CKGM; and as a character in a then-popular local television kids show. He acted the role of a French-Canadian astronaut, along with writer and his partner on the show, Ted Ziegler. Both Ziegler and Cullen were spotted in the credits and doing small cameo walk-ons in various comedic roles on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, as well as other network comedies of the era.
He also voiced Nintendo's mascot Mario in the Donkey Kong segments on Saturday Supercade, making him the first person to ever provide a voice for the character.
Cullen has also done voicework on drum and bass DJ Dieselboy's 2004 album, The Dungeonmaster's Guide. He also did voicework for the unreleased Blizzard Entertainment game Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans[2], and provided narration for the Star Wars fan film I.M.P.S.: The Relentless.
Cullen reprised the role of Optimus Prime in the 2007 Transformers movie, and has signed on for two sequels.[3] Jess Harnell was cast to voice Ironhide, whom Cullen voiced in the original series.
[edit] Personal life
Cullen is a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada, which graduated in 1963.
He has three children: Clay, Claire, and Pilar E. Cullen; and one grandchild.[4]
He has stated that of all the voices he has done, Optimus Prime is his favorite. In interviews, he has said that he had no idea of Optimus Prime's popularity until the character's death in the 1986 animated film, as the studio had never given him fan letters from children addressed to Optimus Prime.
[edit] External links
- Peter Cullen at the Voice Chasers Database
- Peter Cullen at the Internet Movie Database
- Peter Cullen on Knight Rider Online
[edit] References
- ^ Peter Cullen (I) - Biography
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment - Press News - Coming Soon Magazine
- ^ Heather Newgen. "Cullen Says to Expect Two More Transformers", SuperHero Hype, 2007-10-12. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ http://www.aboutheroes.com/content/2006/12/about_heroes_episode_38.php
| Preceded by None |
Voice of Optimus Prime 1984-1987 Original Series and Animated Movie |
Succeeded by Gary Chalk 1998 Beast Wars |
| Preceded by Gary Chalk 2002-2006 Unicron Trilogy |
Voice of Optimus Prime 2007 Video Game and Live-Action Movie |
Succeeded by David Kaye 2008 - Animated |
| Preceded by None |
Voice of Ironhide Original Series and Animated Movie 1984-1987 |
Succeeded by Michael McConnohie 2001-2002 Robots in Disguise |
| Preceded by None |
Voice of Mario 1983-1985 Saturday Supercade |
Succeeded by Lou Albano 1989-1990 Super Mario Brothers Super Show |
| Preceded by None |
Voice of KARR 1982 Knight Rider episode "Trust Doesn't Rust" |
Succeeded by Paul Frees 1984 Knight Rider episode "K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R." |
