Peter Cullen (1941-2026) Written by Ryan Balkwill

Peter Claver Cullen (July 28, 1941 – August 26, 2026) was a Canadian voice actor. He voiced 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. He 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. He also voiced Thaedus in the animated series Invincible.

Cullen was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2023 as part of the 2nd Children’s and Family Emmy Awards.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1971	Tiki Tiki			[21]
1976	King Kong	King Kong (voice)[note 1]	Uncredited	[2]
1982	Heidi’s Song	Gruffle		[23]
1983	Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls	Big Blue		[24]
1984	Gallavants	Antonim		[23]
	Voyage of the Rock Aliens	1359		[23]
	Gremlins	Special Vocal Effects
1985	Robotix	Additional Voices
	Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines	Arthur Ravenscroft		[25]
	Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer	Murky Dismal, Castle Monster, Glitterbot, Guard, Skydancer, Slurthie		[26]
1986	Voltron: Fleet of Doom	Hutch, Commander James Hawkins, Coran, King Alfor, Narrator		[27]
	GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords	Pincher, Tombstone, Stones (voices)		[23]
	My Little Pony: The Movie	Grundle, Ahgg (voices)		[23]
	The Transformers: The Movie	Optimus Prime, Ironhide (voices)		[23]
	King Kong Lives	King Kong (voice)[28]		[28]
1987	G.I. Joe: The Movie	Zandar, Nemesis Enforcer, Scientist (voices)		[23]
	Predator	The Predator (voices)		[2]
1988	Rockin’ with Judy Jetson	Gruff, Commander Comsat, Bouncer (voices)		[29]
	Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears	Ranger Roubideux (voice)		[30]
1989	Vytor: The Starfire Champion	Myzor, Chief Eldor (voices)
1991	The Little Engine That Could	Pete, The Cave (voices)
1994	The Story of Christmas	Ox (voice)
1997	Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin	Eeyore (voice)		[31]
1999	Seasons of Giving		Archive sound
2000	The Tigger Movie			[23]
2001	The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart			[32]
	Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse			[33]
2002	A Very Merry Pooh Year			[23]
	Treasure Planet	Captain Nathaniel Flint (voice)	Uncredited
2003	Piglet’s Big Movie	Eeyore (voice)		[23]
2004	Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo			[23]
2005	Pooh’s Heffalump Movie			[23]
	Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie			[23]
2007	Transformers	Optimus Prime (voice)		[23]
	Super Sleuth Christmas Movie	Eeyore (voice)		[23]
2009	Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too			[23]
	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Optimus Prime (voice)		[23]
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon			[23]
2014	Transformers: Age of Extinction			[23]
2017	Transformers: The Last Knight	Optimus Prime / Nemesis Prime (voice)		[23]
2018	Bumblebee	Optimus Prime (voice)		[23]
2023	Transformers: Rise of the Beasts		Final feature film role	[23]
2026	Optimus Prime: Awakening		Posthumous release; short film; final performance as Optimus Prime	[34]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1967–1968	The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour	Announcer		[2]
1974	The Bobbie Gentry Show			[35]
1979	Mighty Man and Yukk	Brandon Brewster / Mighty Man (voice)
	Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo	Additional Voices
1981	The Kwicky Koala Show	Bristletooth (voice; “Crazy Claws” segment)		[36]
	The Smurfs	Additional Voices
	Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends	Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk, Mysterio, Red Skull (voices)	2 episodes
1982	The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour	Lucky (voice)
	Spider-Man	Red Skull, Stuntman, Jack Riven (voices)		[37]
	Meatballs & Spaghetti	Additional Voices
	Pac-Man	Sour Puss (voice)		[38]
	The Little Rascals	Officer Ed, Pete the Pup
	Knight Rider	K.A.R.R.	1st voice; Episode: “Trust Doesn’t Rust”	[2]
1983	Monchhichis	Shreeker, Snitchitt, Gonker (voices)
	The Puppy’s Further Adventures	Lucky (voice)
	The Biskitts	Dog Foot, Fang, Scratch (voices)		[39]
	Saturday Supercade	Mario (voice)	Donkey Kong segments	[10]
	The Dukes	Foreign Agent		[40]
1983–1985	Mister T	Additional Voices
	Dungeons & Dragons	Venger, The Darkling (voices)		[41]
1984	Dragon’s Lair	Bertram, Sir Hubert Blunt, Walker (voices)		[42]
	Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats	Boom Boom Pussini, Max, Pop, Additional Voices		[43]
	Snorks	Additional Voices
	Voltron: Defender of the Universe	Coran, King Alfor, Narrator (voices)		[44]
1984–1986	Rainbow Brite	Murky Dismal, Narrator, Monstromurk, Skydancer (voices)		[45]
1984–1985	Alvin and the Chipmunks	Additional Voices
	Lucky Luke		English dub
1984–1987	The Transformers	Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Streetwise, Wingspan, Slugslinger, Nightstick (voices)	Main role	[46]
1985	The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo	Maldor the Malevolent, Sandy (voices)	2 episodes	[47]
	Challenge of the GoBots	Spoiler, Tank, Pincher (voices)		[48]
	The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians	Felix Faust (voices)	Episode: “The Case of the Stolen Super Powers”
1985–1986	G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero	Airborne, Ramar, Zandar (voices)	Main role
1985–1987	The Jetsons	Additional Voices
1986	MoonDreamers	Igon, Additional voices	Main role
	Rambo: The Force of Freedom	Sergeant Havoc	Main role	[49]
	Muppet Babies	Sor-Elbow, Smoggy the Bear, Football Bear (voices)	Episode: “Fozzie’s Family Tree”	[50]
	Ghostbusters	Eddie Spenser Jr., Eddie Spenser Sr., Haunter, Floatzart (voices)		[51]
	Pound Puppies	Captain Slaughter (voice)	4 episodes	[52]
	The New Adventures of Jonny Quest	Patch (voice)	Episode: “Peril of the Reptilian”	[53]
	Foofur	Baby the Rat (voice)	Main role	[54]
	My Little Pony	Captain Crabnasty (voice)	Episode: “Fugitive Flowers”
1987–1988	BraveStarr	Dr. Watson, Mr. Fogg (voices)		[55]
	DuckTales	Admiral Grimitz, Bankjob Beagle, Mad Dog McGirk, Lessdred (voices)	Recurring role; 19 episodes	[56]
1987	Little Wizards	Renwick, Various characters
	The Real Ghostbusters	Doctor Destructo, Police Officer (voices)	Episode: “Captain Steel Saves the Day”
	Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light	Cindarr (voice)		[57]
1987–1989	Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs	Commander Eagle, Narrator, Nemesis (voices)		[58]
1988	Dino-Riders	Gunner, Antor, Bomba (voices)	Main role	[59]
	The Wonderful World of Disney	The Sorcerer	Episode: “Mickey’s 60th Birthday“
1988–1989	The New Yogi Bear Show	Ranger Roubideux (voices)	Main role
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Smash, Mugger, Napoleon (voices)
1988–1991	The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Eeyore (voices)	Main role	[2]
1988–1990	Adventures of the Gummi Bears	Kerwin the Conqueror, Gritty (voices)		[60]
1989	Rude Dog and the Dweebs	Herman, Winston (voices)	Main role	[61]
1989–1990	Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers	Monterey Jack (season 1), Mepps, Officer Kirby, Officer Muldoon, additional voices	Main role	[62]
1990	TaleSpin	Additional Voices	Episode: “It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck”
1990–1993	Tom & Jerry Kids	Additional Voices
1990–1992	Tiny Toon Adventures	Additional Voices
1990–1991	Widget the World Watcher	Bob the Poacher, Rooney Kangaroo, Gdunu (voices)		[63]
1991–1993	The Pirates of Dark Water	Mantus (voice)	Main role	[64]
1993	Bonkers	Abominable Snowman, Mackey McSlime (voice)
1994	Hardball	Fox Announcer (voice)	Episode: “Lee’s Bad, Bad Day”
1996	Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh	Eeyore (voice)
2001	House of Mouse
2001–2002	The Book of Pooh			[65]
2004–2005	Megas XLR	Zanzoar, Klaar (voices)		[23]
2005–2006	IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix	Narrator		[66]
2007–2010	My Friends Tigger & Pooh	Eeyore (voice)		[67]
2009	Knight Rider	K.A.R.R. (voice)	Episode: “Knight in King’s Pawn”
	Bizarre Dinosaurs	Narrator	U.S. version	[68]
2010–2013	Transformers: Prime	Optimus Prime / Orion Pax, Nemesis Prime, Vehicon (voice)		[23]
2011–2016	Transformers: Rescue Bots	Optimus Prime (voice)		[23]
2013	Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising			[23]
2014	2014 Kids’ Choice Awards
2015–2017	Transformers: Robots in Disguise			[23]
2017	Doc McStuffins	Eeyore (voice)	Episode: “Into the Hundred Acre Wood“	[23]
2017–2018	Transformers: Titans Return	Optimus Prime (voice)		[23]
2018	The Toys That Made Us	HimselfOptimus Prime (voice)
	Transformers: Power of the Primes	Optimus Prime (voice)
2019	Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Yōkai Councillor #1 (voice)	3 episodes	[23]
2023–2026	Invincible	Thaedus (voice)	Recurring role; 7 episodes; final role overall	[69]
2024	The Masked Singer	Optimus Prime (voice)	Episode: “Transformers Night”; final TV role; final TV show as Optimus Prime	[70]

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes	Ref.
2003	Piglet’s Big Game	Eeyore
2007	Transformers: The Game	Optimus Prime		[23]
	Transformers Autobots
2009	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen			[23]
	Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Autobots
2010	Transformers: War for Cybertron			[23]
	Transformers: Cybertron Adventures			[71]
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon			[23]
2012	Transformers: Fall of Cybertron			[23]
2012	Transformers: Prime – The Game			[23]
2014	Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark			[23]
2015	Transformers: Devastation			[23]
2016	Transformers: Earth Wars			[72]
2016	Disney Magical World 2	Eeyore
2019	Crystal Crisis	Narrator		[73]
2023	Fortnite Battle Royale	Optimus Prime	Final video game role; final video game as Optimus Prime

Theme park rides

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Transformers: The Ride – 3D	Optimus Prime	First and only theme park ride role; first and only theme park ride as Optimus Prime	[74]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2011	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Transformers Prime	Nominated	[75]
2019	Voice Arts Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award	—N/a	Won	[76]
2023	Children’s and Family Emmy Awards			Won	[77]

My memories of Cullen was watching all the transformers movies with her voicing Optimus Prime & voicing Thaedus in the animated series Invincible.