The writers temporarily revived the character for a single episode in Season 3 called "Dark Awakening". Children were leaving the theaters distraught because of the character's death. The public backlash over Optimus's death surprised producers greatly. He has also stated that he had no idea of Prime's popularity until the character's controversial death in the 1986 animated film, because the studio had never given him fan letters from children addressed to Optimus. I'd never had an opportunity to do a superhero, and when that came, just came right out of me and I sounded like Optimus." Ĭullen putting his handprints in wet concrete at the Optimus Prime Chinese Theatre Handprint Ceremony in 2014 He was quieter and he was a man and a superhero to me," says the actor. "When he came home, I could see a change. He has stated that Optimus is his favorite voice role, and that he based the voice of the Autobot leader on his older brother Larry, who served in Vietnam. Real heroes don't yell and act tough they're tough enough to be gentle, so control yourself." Cullen later learned from his agent, Steve Tisherman, that he not only won the part of Prime, but also, to his surprise, the role of Ironhide as well, which he saw as a " home run". He lent his voice to a character in the album "The Story of Halloween Horror" in 1977.Ĭullen recalls auditioning for the role of the robot superhero Optimus Prime at a casting house in Burbank, California, explaining that as he read Prime's character breakdown, he saw that it was "the opportunity of the year", and heeded his brother Larry's advice: "Peter, don't be a Hollywood hero, be a real hero.
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In 1974, Cullen was the announcer and a series regular (with Ted Zeigler and Billy Van) on The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show. įrom 1971 to 1974, he, Zeigler and Billy Van were series regulars on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. From 1967 to 1969, he was the announcer for Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He honed his voice skills by working as a radio announcer, notably in his home town of Montreal on (then) MOR station CKGM doing the overnight and weekend swing shifts.
In 1968, he and Joan Stuart appeared as "Giles" and "Penelope" in L'Anglaise, a recurring segment about a French-Canadian man with an English-Canadian wife, on the CBC Radio comedy series, Funny You Should Say That.Ĭullen played a French-Canadian astronaut character named Commander Bi Bi Latuque alongside Ted Zeigler for the 1969 children's show, The Buddies on CFCF-TV in Montreal. His brother, Larry Cullen, was a retired Captain in the United States Marine Corps, and helped inspire the voice of Optimus Prime. He is a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada, which he graduated in 1963. He has three siblings: Michaela, Sonny, and Larry. He has also voiced many other characters across a wide variety of popular media, including Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh franchise, Monterey Jack in Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, the first voice of KARR in Knight Rider and the vocalizations of the title character in Predator.Ĭullen was born on July 28, 1941, in Montreal, Quebec, to Henry and Muriel (née McCann) Cullen. He is notable for voicing Optimus Prime in the original 1980s Transformers animated series, later returning to the role in Transformers media in 2007, starting with the first live-action film. Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor.
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