Peter Cullen, Winnie the Pooh and Transformers star, dies

The Canadian actor Peter Cullen, who voiced characters in Winnie the Pooh and Transformers, has died aged 85, his agent and family have confirmed. Cullen, who voiced Eeyore and Optimus Prime in numerous TV shows and films and the titular character in 1987's Predator, died surrounded by his family. A family statement issued by his agent read: "Peter Cullen passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family – and held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide. "His family asks that you honour his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember, be strong enough to be gentle." Cullen voiced Eeyore in series including the cartoon The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which ran from 1988 to 1991; The Book of Pooh and My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and films such as The Tigger Movie (2000), Piglet's Big Movie (2003), and Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005). He also played the miserable donkey in the video game Piglet's Big Game. Of Irish descent, Montreal-born Cullen first voiced Optimus Prime in the 1980s TV show The Transformers and its spin-off film The Transformers: The Movie (1986). In 2007, he reprised the role in the first live-action film of the series directed by Michael Bay. He went on to appear as the shapeshifting truck robot in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018), and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), as well as numerous other TV projects. Cullen also appeared as Optimus Prime in a series of video games based on the franchise. His other credits included Karr, the evil equivalent of talking car Kitt, in the Knight Rider TV series; Captain Nathaniel Flint in Disney's 2003 Treasure Planet film, a number of characters in 1987's GI Joe: The Movie, and special vocal effects in Gremlins (1984). He provided the voice of Kong in King Kong (1976) and King Kong Lives (1986), as well as voicing Grundle and Ahgg in My Little Pony: The Movie (1986). In 2023, Cullen won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards. Source: Press Association