Peter Cullen, Canadian-born voice of Optimus Prime in ‘Transformers,’ dies at 85

Peter Cullen, the Montreal-born actor who lent his calm and steady voice to Optimus Prime in the “Transformers” franchise, died Wednesday at age 85, his family said.

He died in his Los Angeles home, surrounded by loved ones, the family said in a statement sent by his agent.

“His family asks that you honor his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember ‘be strong enough to be gentle,'” the statement reads.

That quote comes from the story Cullen told about how he found the voice for Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots in the “Transformers” franchise of TV shows, films and video games.

“‘If you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be a Hollywood hero type with all the B.S., all the yelling and screaming and trying to be tough,'” Cullen quotes his older brother Larry, a former U.S. marine, as saying upon hearing about the character.

“‘Be strong enough to be gentle.'”

Cullen’s portrayal of the shape-shifting robot leader sounds an awful lot like his brother, he said onstage at a convention dedicated to Transformers in 2018.

That voice landed Cullen the role in the original 1984 series. The show only lasted a few years, but its success cascaded into more shows, toys, video games and — ultimately — the multibillion-dollar, live-action film franchise by Michael Bay that began in 2007.

Cullen would portray the character in dozens of other shows, films, video games and theme park rides over the decades, as recently as 2023’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.”

Cullen also voiced the villainous KARR opposite KITT in the 1980s NBC series “Knight Rider,” and lent his pipes to King Kong in the Jeff Bridges-led “King Kong” remake in 1976.

Cullen would attend conventions around the country to meet with fans from multiple generations, often getting teary. He said parents sometimes got more excited than their children meeting him.

“I expect that I will run into a father with his son, and the father will more than likely get choked up,” Cullen said before MegaCon Orlando in 2019. “And then I get choked up, and then the kid is saying ‘What are these two grown men getting choked up about?’”

Eric Bauza, a Toronto-born voice actor who voiced Drift in the TV series “Transformers: Robots in Disguise,” said Cullen was one of the greats. 

“This is the centre of the Transformers universe,” he said. “Just like Mel Blanc and June Foray.”

Bauza, who mostly works in the Looney Tunes universe, said he had the chance to spend time with Cullen at the Children’s and Family Emmy Awards in 2023, when Cullen received a lifetime achievement award.

“He was a proud Canadian kid,” Bauza said Thursday. 

“When he found out I was Canadian, that’s when the guard was down and the boxing gloves were off.”

Bauza said he was surrounded by A-list celebrities, but he only wanted to spend time with Cullen and his family.

David Kaye, a Canadian voice actor who’s played Megatron and a younger version of Optimus Prime, posted about Cullen on Instagram.

“I looked up to him a great deal and what an honor and a privilege to have worked alongside him,” he wrote.

Cullen is survived by his four children, Angus, Claire, Pilar and Clay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026.

-with files from The Associated Press.