Peter Cullen

at Voice Actor

Speaker

Golden-throated PETER CULLEN (Optimus Prime) is known throughout the world not only as the voice of the wise and heroic leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, on the popular 1980s cartoon series “The Transformers,” but he was also the voice of various other robots including Ironhide, Slugslinger, Streetwise, Wingspan and Nightstick. In 1986 he reprised the voices Optimus and Ironhide in the animated film, “The Transformers: The Movie.”

In 2007 Cullen won new fans as the velvet voice of Optimus in Michael Bay’s impressive live-action motion picture “Transformers,” starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and John Turturro, and returned for all of the subsequent installments in the franchise, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ as well as for ‘Bumblebee’ and last summer’s ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his voice over performance as ‘Optimus Prime’ in the animated series, ‘Transformers Prime’. He also appeared in character in ‘Rescue Bots’, the pre-school animated ‘Transformers’ series. He has portrayed this character in countless video and online games as well in toys and on the Calm Meditation app for children. For his years of service and devotion in creating this iconic character, Peter was inducted into the Hasbro Hall of Fame, as one of the first inductees and the first voice-over actor to be so honored.

He also lent his talents to the somber but sincere voice of Eeyore, the eternally pessimistic donkey who views the world through morose-colored glasses. Cullen, who ironically owns his own donkey, is heard on everything from cartoons and television commercials to theatrical promotions, beginning with the popular TV series, “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” in 1988 to the “House of Mouse” in 2002. In addition, he is featured on “Disney’s Duck Tales” and plays Monterey Jack on “Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers.”

Earlier in the 80s, Cullen was the voice of K.A.R.R., the evil incarnation of K.I.T.T., the talking Pontiac Trans-Am, in the David Hasselhoff series, “Knight Rider.” He was also the voice of Mantus in “The Pirates of Dark Water,” Hägar in “Hägar the Horrible,” Cindarr in “Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light,” Venger in “Dungeons and Dragons” and the narrator in the “Voltron” series, in which he also played Commander Hawkins. Other television credits include “Johnny Quest,” “Spider-Man,” “G.I. Joe,” “My Little Pony and Friends,” “Rainbow Brite,” “Scooby and Scrappy-Doo” and “The Jetsons.”

His film credits include the remake of “King Kong,” as the voice of the famous giant ape, and in the “Predator” films he provided the inhuman alien sounds for the title role. Cullen’s voice can also be heard in “My Little Pony: The Movie,” “Heathcliff: The Movie” and “Gremlins.”

The actor appeared on “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” “The Bobbie Goldsboro Show” and “The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.” Cullen also made appearances on Jonathan Winters and Richard Pryor specials.

Born in Montreal, Québec, Cullen is a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada and spent his early professional years as a radio drama actor on The Canadian Broadcasting Company. His son, Clay, is a Taurus Award-winning stuntman in Hollywood.

In 2023, for his unique and unparalleled contribution to this industry, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized Cullen by awarding him the Emmy for ‘Lifetime Achievement’.