“#Transformers Fans Celebrate Optimus Prime as Peter Cullen Turns 80 Years Old”
Peter Cullen was born in Montreal in 1941 and after an uneventful childhood began working in the entertainment industry in the 1960s on radio. It was through working as a radio announcer that he built up his skills as a voice artist, which included numerous stints on his home town radio station working overnight and weekend shift swings. At the end of the 60s he also was the announced for Smother Brothers Comedy Hour. He continued in this vein throughout the 1970s with turns on The Sonny and Cher Show and The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.
When Cullen auditioned for a part in an animated series as a superhero robot, he read the brief of the character of Optimus Prime and called it “the opportunity of the year.” I think in retrospect, he would probably now call it the opportunity of a lifetime. Cullen would later recall that his inspiration for Prime’s voice came from his older brother Larry, who had told him, “Peter, Don’t be a Hollywood superhero, be a real superhero. Real superheroes don’t yell and act tough; they are tough enough to be gentle so control yourself.” That advice is probably as good a description of Prime that anyone could give. In addition to being given the role of Prime, when the casting decisions were made, Cullen was also asked to be Ironhide as well.
When relaying how Prime’s voice was based on his Vietnam vet brother, Larry, Cullen once said, “When he came home, I could see a change. He was quieter, he was a man and a superhero to me. I watched him and listened to him. I’d never had the opportunity to do a superhero, and when that came, that voice just came right out of me and I sounded like Optimus.”
When Prime was killed off in the 1986 animated Transformers movie, the backlash was so great that writers brought the character back on three occasions before bringing him back to round off the last five episodes of the original animated series. Although it seemed like that was finally the end of the road for Cullen’s time as Prime.
However, when Michael Bay was making a new live action movie based on the franchise, there was only one person who they wanted back as the voice of the new Optimus Prime, and that was Peter Cullen. Since 2007, Cullen has continued to provide the voice of Prime in five sequels and will reprise it again in Transformers: Rise of The Beasts which is currently filming now. He has also voiced Prime in numerous video games and TV series in the last decade, including Transformers: Prime for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2011.
Outside the Transformers franchise, Cullen has given voices to some of the most iconic characters of a generation in series like Voltron, Knight Rider and GI Joe. He provided a voice to the Red Skull in a 1981 Spider-Man series, a gremlin in Joe Dante’s 1984 movie Gremlins and most notably as the villain Venger in the animated Dungeons and Dragons series. There are some people who believe that voiceovers are much easier than on screen acting, but that is probably just because actors like Cullen make it look so simple. We join all his fans in wishing him a happy 80th birthday, and long may be reign as Optimus Prime continue.
Happy Birthday, #PeterCullen. Thank you for all that you’ve given, fueling creativity for endless generations to come. You are truly beloved, more than you’ll ever know. It’s so much more than just doing a voice. May I find the courage to walk even half as far in your footsteps.
— Dustin Womack (@xXZiplockXx) July 28, 2021
Happy 80th Birthday to the man who I met and inspired me to become a voice actor – Peter Cullen
He deserves to be called a hero. pic.twitter.com/Ov57qSo8KO
— Tom Oliver (@TomOliv20735419) July 28, 2021
Happy 80th birthday to Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen, narrator of many a Cannon trailer. Here’s his voiceover on a preview for American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987): pic.twitter.com/ylDq8pWhZl
— The Cannon Film Guide (@CannonFilmGuide) July 28, 2021
Happy birthday to the legendary Peter Cullen, the man who voiced Optimus Prime from 3 different continuities, the role of the classic Predator, K.A.R.R, and one of Eeyore’s voices! pic.twitter.com/JmnCHDJiUo
— Quantum Surge (@Quantum_Surge64) July 28, 2021
Happy 80th Birthday to the voice of Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen! I remember meeting him at Hascon back in 2017! Transformers is the main reason I want to make movies and Star in them! Happy Birthday Peter Cullen! Till All Are One! 🥳🎉🎊🎈🎂 pic.twitter.com/S0l4C7P0Yx
— Jack Bruttomesso (@jbrutto11) July 28, 2021
Happy 80th Birthday to this amazing human being, other than my Dad Peter Cullen is someone who I have looked up to for most of my life, #Legend#Hero#Autobots#OptimusPrime#Transformers#PeterCullenpic.twitter.com/NycbmvmJq5
— Peter Walsh (@peterwalsh27) July 28, 2021
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