Biography for
Peter Cullen (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

28 July 1941, Montreal, Québec, Canada

Birth Name

Peter Claver Cullen

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Trade Mark

The voice of Optimus Prime, the heroic leader of the Autobots on "The Transformers"

Often provides a deep, raspy voice for his characters, most notably Optimus Prime.

Trivia

Frequently does voice overs for commercials, cartoons, movie previews, etc.

Father of Clay, Claire and Pilar E. Cullen.

Has been the voice of two characters involved in chicken runs (when two cars drive towards each other). The first was the evil K.A.R.R. in the TV show "Knight Rider". The second was the heroic good guy Optimus Prime in the cartoon "The Transformers".

Though he provided vocals for the inhuman alien Predator in the Predator films and the voice of Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, he is best known for voicing the heroic Autobot leader Optimus Prime in the animated Transformers series. Though it was originally intended for his character to remain dead after being killed in the 1986 Transformers film, the death caused such a public backlash that the surprised producers brought the character back in two separate episodes of the third season (ultimately saving the world in the second appearance).

Son is stuntman Clay Cullen

Was one, of only two, voice-over actors from the original "Transformers" (1984) animated series to voice a character in the live action film version, Transformers (2007). The other being Charles Adler. Cullen once again provided the voice of the valiant Autobot leader, Optimus Prime for the film.

Has stated that the voice of legendary American film actor John Wayne had some influence on his choice for the voice of Optimus Prime. However, he clarified in an interview for the 2007 Transformers video game that the inspiration for Prime's voice was actually based on an impression of his older brother's voice -- the authoritative tone he used while serving as an officer with the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.

Stated that of all the roles that he has done, his signature role, Optimus Prime, is his favorite. He described playing Prime in the 2007 film as "slipping into a very old, very comfortable pair of shoes." He explained his preference for the character by saying "making people happy makes me happy.".

Graduated from Regiopolios College in Kingston Ontario, Canada.

Graduated from the National Theater School of Canada in 1963.

He was the first actor to voice Nintendo's video game mascot Mario - of Super Mario Brothers - for the Saturday Supercade series.

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