Peter Cullen

For the Australian water scientist, see Peter Cullen (scientist).

Peter Cullen
Born	Peter Claver Cullen July 28, 1941 (1941-07-28) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation	Voice actor
Years active	1962—present
Children	Angus Cullen, Claire Cullen, Pilar E. Cullen

Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He is best known as the original voice of Optimus Prime (as well as Ironhide) in the original 1980s Transformers animated series and Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise. Starting in 2007, Peter Cullen has reprised his role as Optimus Prime in all Transformers related media, starting with the first live-action film.

Early life

Cullen was born in Montreal, Quebec to Henry L. Cullen and Muriel McCann. He is a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada, which graduated in 1963. His brother, Larry Cullen, was a retired Captain in the United States Marine Corps, and helped inspire the voice of Optimus Prime. His sister, Michaela Tomlinson, is married to Frank Tomlinson, and has been supportive from the beginning.

Career

1960s–1970s

In 1968, he appeared as Giles with Joan Stuart as 'Penelope' in L'Anglaise, a CBC sitcom about a French-Canadian husband with an English-Canadian wife (CBC's Funny You Should Say That). He also performed a French-Canadian astronaut character named Bebe LaToque alongside Ted Zeigler for a 1969 children's show on CFCF-TV in Montreal.

From 1967 to 1969, he was the announcer for Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. In 1974, Cullen was a series regular and the announcer on The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.

As Optimus Prime

Cullen recalls auditioning for the role of the robot 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. Real heroes don't yell and act tough; they are 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 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. "When he came home, I could see a change. He was quieter and he was a man and a hero to me," says the actor. "I watched him and listened to him. I'd never had an opportunity to do a superhero, and when that came, [that voice] just came right out of me and I sounded like Optimus."

He has also stated that he had no idea of Prime's popularity until the character's controversial death in the 1986 animated film, as the studio had never given him fan letters from children addressed to Optimus. The public backlash over Optimus' death surprised producers greatly. Children were leaving the theaters because of the character's death. The writers temporarily revived the character for a single episode in Season 3 called "Dark Awakening". Initially, this was intended to be his final appearance, but after fan requests continued, "The Return of Optimus Prime", a two-part episode was produced. The original ending of "Dark Awakening" was altered in reruns to include a teaser about the return of the character.^{(citation needed)}

Cullen reprised the role of Optimus Prime in the 2007 Transformers live-action film, and its sequels Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the games based on them. He originally had a short cameo in Revenge of the Fallen, but this was eventually removed from the final cut.

Cullen again reprised his role as Optimus Prime in the video game Transformers: War for Cybertron, its sequel game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and in the recent television series Transformers: Prime in 2010. His performance in the premiere season of Transformers: Prime earned him a nomination for a 2011 Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program category.

Other work

In the 1980s and the 1990s, Cullen appeared on a number of television shows. He has played Coran, Stride the Tiger Fighter, and King Alfor in the Lion Voltron series, the transforming spaceship/robot Ramrod in the 1980s anime series Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Commander James Hawkins in the Vehicle Voltron series, Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh series, KARR in Knight Rider, Antor and Bomba, and Gunner, in Dino-Riders, Airbourne, Nemesis Enforcer and Zandar in G.I. Joe, He played "Mantor/Mantys" in Coleco's 5 episode mini-series Sectaurs in 1986; Red Skull in the 1981 cartoon series of Spider-Man, Klaar and Zanzoar in Megas XLR and Mantus in The Pirates of Dark Water. He also had a voice part in the 1984 motion picture Gremlins, as a gremlin, and the first season of the 2008 Knight Rider Series as KARR. He also did voicework in The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible series, notably as Japheth, one of Noah's sons in the Noah's Ark episode, and the King of Nineveh in the Jonah episode. He was well known by some as the main villain Venger in the animated series of Dungeons and Dragons. He played the evil sorcerer Renwick in the lesser known series Little Wizards and played Cindarr in the short-lived series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.

Among many other television series and films, he has also lent his basso voice to many film trailers and television commercials, including announcing for the Toonami and You Are Here blocks on the Cartoon Network. Cullen spent some of his early professional years in Montreal as a radio announcer/DJ on CKGM; and as a character in a then-popular local television kids show. He acted the role of a French-Canadian astronaut, along with writer and his partner on the show, Ted Ziegler. Both Ziegler and Cullen were spotted in the credits and doing small cameo walk-ons in various comedic roles on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, as well as other network comedies of the era.

He voiced Nintendo's mascot Mario in the Donkey Kong segments on Saturday Supercade, making him the first person to ever provide a voice for the character.

Cullen has done voicework on drum and bass DJ Dieselboy's 2004 album, The Dungeonmaster's Guide, and narration on the 2013 album Tetragrammaton by the Dutch extreme metal band The Monolith Deathcult. He also did voicework for the unreleased Blizzard Entertainment game Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, and provided narration for the Star Wars fan film series I.M.P.S.: The Relentless.

Honors

At BotCon 2010, Hasbro named Cullen as one of the first four human inductees in the Transformers Hall of Fame for his role as the voice of Optimus Prime.

Personal life

Cullen has three children: Angus, Claire, Pilar and three grandchildren. Also, he has three siblings: Michaela, Sonny, and Larry.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962–63	The Jetsons	Additional voices
1967	The Buddies	Commander Bi Bi Latuque
1967–68	The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour	Announcer
1969	Comedy Cafe
1970–71	Zut!
1971–74	The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour	Himself Various characters
1974	The Bobbie Gentry Show	Announcer
	The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show	Himself
	The Sonny Comedy Revue	Himself Various characters
1975	Down Home Country	Luke Warm
1976	The Wolfman Jack Show
1979	The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show	Mighty Man
	Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo	Additional voices
1981	The Kwicky Koala Show
	The Smurfs	Additional voices
	Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends	Hulk Mysterio
1982	The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour	Lucky
	Spider-Man	Red Skull
	Meatballs and Spaghetti
	Pac-Man	Sour Puss
	The Little Rascals	Officer Ed Pete the Pup
	Knight Rider	K.A.R.R.
1983	Monchhichis	Shreeker Snitchitt Gonker
	The Puppy's Further Adventures	Lucky
	The Biskitts	Dog Foot Fang Scratch
	Saturday Supercade	Mario
	The Dukes	Additional voices
1983–85	Dungeons & Dragons	Venger
1984	Dragon's Lair	Bertram
	Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats	Additional voices
	Snorks	Additional voices
1984–86	Rainbow Brite	Murky Dismal
1984–85	Alvin and the Chipmunks	Additional voices
1984–87	The Transformers	Optimus Prime Ironhide
1984	Voltron: Defender of the Universe	Coran King Alfor Narrator
1984	Three's a Crowd	Sports Announcer Airline Captain	Episode 1.6: "Vacation from Sex" Episode 1.8: "The Honeymooners"
1985	The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo	Maldor the Malevolent
	Challenge of the GoBots	Spoiler Tank Pincher
	Muppet Babies	Additional voices	Episode 2.3: "Fozzie's Last Laugh"
	The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians	Felix Faust	Episode 1.6: "Brainchild/The Case of the Stolen Super Powers"
1985–86	G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero	Airborne Ramar Zandar
1986	MoonDreamers	Igon Various characters	Episode 1.14: "Zodies on the Loose"
	Rambo: The Force of Freedom	Sergeant Havoc
	Ghostbusters	Eddie Spenser, Jr.
	Pound Puppies	Captain Slaughter	Episode 1.7: "In Pups We trust" Episode 1.8: "The Captain and the Cats" Episode 1.10: "Wagga Wagga" Episode 1.11: "The Star Pup"
	The New Adventures of Jonny Quest	Patch	Episode 1.1: "Peril of the Reptilian"
	Foofur	Baby
	My Little Pony	Captain Crabnasty	Episode: "Fugitive Flowers"
1987–88	BraveStarr	Dr. Whiston Dr. Watson Hack
	DuckTales	Admiral Grimitz Bankjob Beagle Mad Dog McGirk Lessdred
1987	The Little Wizards	Renwick Various characters
	The Real Ghostbusters	Doctor Destructo Police Officer	Episode 2.4: "Captain Steel Saves the Day"
	Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light	Cindarr
1987–89	Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs	Commander Eagle Narrator Nemesis
1988	Dino-Riders	Gunner Antor Bomba	Episode 1.5: "Toro Toro Torosaurus"
1988–91	The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Eeyore
1988–90	Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears	Kerwin the Conqueror Gritty
1988–89	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Smash Mugger Napoleon
1989	Rude Dog and the Dweebs	Herman Winston
1989–90	Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers	Monterey Jack (Season 1) Additional voices	Jim Cummings took over the role of Monterey Jack in Season 2
1990	TaleSpin	Additional voices	Episode 1.6: "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck"
1990–93	Tom & Jerry Kids	Additional voices
1990–91	Widget the World Watcher	Bob the Poacher Rooney Kangaroo Gdunu
1991–93	The Pirates of Dark Water	Mantus
1991	In Living Color		Episode 2.26: "Dickie Peterson: Cherub of Justice"
1993	Bonkers	Abominable Snowman Mackey McSlime
1994	Hardball	Fox Announcer	Episode 1.6: "Lee's Bad, Bad Day"
1996	Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh	Eeyore
2001–02	House of Mouse	Eeyore
2004–05	Megas XLR	Zanzoar Klaar
2005–06	IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix	Narrator	Episode 1.1: "Time to Shine"
2007–10	My Friends Tigger & Pooh	Eeyore
2009	Knight Rider	K.A.R.R.
2009	"Bizarre dinosaurs"	narrator
2010–2013	Transformers: Prime	Optimus Prime Vehicon-(In Episode 'Thirst')	Nominated - Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
2012–present	Transformers: Rescue Bots	Optimus Prime
2013–present	Sofia the First	TBA	voice role in production season 2

Film

Year	Title	Role
1970	Prologue	Allen
1976	King Kong	King Kong (voice only)
1982	Heidi's Song	Gruffle
1983	Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls	Big Blue
1984	Voyage of the Rock Aliens	1359
	Gallavants	Antonim
	Gremlins	Mogwai Gremlins
1985	Robotix
	Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines	Arthur Ravenscroft
	Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer	Murky Dismal Castle Monster Glitterbot Guard Skydancer Slurthie
1986	Voltron: Fleet of Doom	Commander James Hawkins Coran King Alfor Narrator
	Heathcliff: The Movie
	GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords	Pincher Tombstone Stones
	My Little Pony: The Movie	Grundle Ahgg
	The Transformers: The Movie	Optimus Prime Ironhide
1987	G.I. Joe: The Movie	Zandar Nemesis Enforcer Scientist
1988	Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears	Ranger Roubideux
	Rockin' with Judy Jetson	Gruff Commander Comsat Bouncer
1989	Vytor: The Starfire Champion	Myzor Chief Eldor
1995	"Batman Forever"	Trailer announcer
1997	"Batman & Robin"	Trailer announcer
1997	"Jackie Chan's First Strike"	Trailer Announcer
1997	Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin	Eeyore
1999	Seasons of Giving
2000	The Tigger Movie
2001	Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
2002	A Very Merry Pooh Year
2003	Piglet's Big Movie
2004	Springtime with Roo
2005	Pooh's Heffalump Movie
	Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
2007	Transformers	Optimus Prime
2008	Super Sleuth Christmas Movie	Eeyore
2009	Tigger and Pooh and a Musical Too
	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Optimus Prime
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2013	Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Predacons Rising
2014	Transformers: Age of Extinction

Video Games

Year	Title	Role
2003	Piglets Big Game	Eeyore
2007	Transformers: The Game	Optimus Prime
	Transformers Autobots
2009	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
	Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Autobots
2010	Transformers: War for Cybertron
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2012	Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
	Transformers: Prime – The Game

Rides

Year	Title	Role
2011	Transformers: The Ride	Optimus Prime

Awards and nominations received by Peter Cullen

Year	Award	Category	Film/TV Show	Result
2010	Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Screen Couple (shared with Shia LaBeouf and either Megan Fox or any "Transformer")	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Nominated
2011	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Transformers Prime	Nominated
2012	Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Screen Ensemble (shared with the entire cast)	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Nominated

External links

• Peter Cullen at the Internet Movie Database
• Peter Cullen at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Template:Amg name

Template:S-end

Preceded by None	Voice of Optimus Prime 1984–1988 Original series and animated film	Succeeded by Neil Kaplan 2001–2002 Robots in Disguise
Preceded by Gary Chalk 2002–2006 Unicron Trilogy	Voice of Optimus Prime 2007 Video game and live-action film	Succeeded by David Kaye 2007–2009 Animated
Preceded by David Kaye 2007–2009 Animated	Voice of Optimus Prime 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Succeeded by none
Preceded by none	Voice of Optimus Prime 2010 Transformers: Prime	Succeeded by none
Preceded by none	Voice of Optimus Prime 2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Succeeded by none
Preceded by None	Voice of Ironhide Original series and animated film 1984–1986	Succeeded by Michael McConnohie 2001–2002 Robots in Disguise
Preceded by None	Voice of Mario 1983–1985 Saturday Supercade	Succeeded by Lou Albano 1989–1990 Super Mario Brothers Super Show
Preceded by None	Voice of KARR 1982 Knight Rider episode "Trust Doesn't Rust"	Succeeded by Paul Frees 1984 Knight Rider episode "K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R."
Preceded by Paul Frees 1984 Knight Rider episode "K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R."	Voice of KARR 2009 Knight Rider episode "Knight to King's Pawn"	Succeeded by None