Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime for over four decades, has died at 85.
Cullen passed away Wednesday at his Los Angeles home, according to his agent Kevin Motley, who informed The Hollywood Reporter. His family confirmed he died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, and remembered by friends and fans around the world.
In a statement, his family asked fans to honor his legacy by serving their communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty. They also shared one of his guiding principles: “Be strong enough to be gentle.”
Born in Montreal, Cullen became one of the most recognizable voices in animation history. He first landed the role of Optimus Prime, the noble Autobot leader who transforms into a truck, after a fairly routine audition process.
“I auditioned like everybody else,” he told NPR in 2014. “I was told it was a hero, and I was told it was a truck.”
He debuted as the character in the syndicated animated series The Transformers, which aired from 1984 to 1987. The show was based on Hasbro’s popular toy line and produced by Marvel Productions, with animation studios in Japan and South Korea handling the visuals.
The character’s death during a confrontation with Megatron in the 1986 theatrical film shocked young audiences and triggered a significant backlash. Producers responded by bringing Cullen and Optimus back in the two-part television story The Return of Optimus Prime.
As originally reported, director Michael Bay revived the franchise as a live-action production in 2007, starring Shia LaBeouf, and brought Cullen back without hesitation.
Cullen described returning to the role in a 2007 interview with IGN as slipping into a comfortable old pair of shoes. The reunion worked spectacularly. The 2007 Transformers film grossed $709.7 million worldwide, ranking as the fifth-highest-grossing film globally that year.
Cullen reprised the role in Revenge of the Fallen in 2009, which earned $836.3 million worldwide. Dark of the Moon in 2011 and Age of Extinction in 2014 each surpassed $1.1 billion at the global box office.
He continued voicing Optimus in The Last Knight in 2017, Bumblebee in 2018, and Rise of the Beasts in 2023, along with numerous television series and video games tied to the franchise.
Beyond the Autobots, Cullen also spent years voicing Eeyore across dozens of Winnie the Pooh projects, demonstrating a range that stretched from commanding and heroic to quiet and tender.
His career spanned more than four decades and left a clear mark on multiple generations of fans. The family’s request was simple: honor the man by living out the values he embodied, strength, gentleness, and service to others.