OPTIMUS Prime and Eeyore voice actor Peter Cullen’s cause of death has been revealed.
The Transformers star died at the age of 85 last week.
The Canadian voice actor died of a heart attack at his LA home, according to TMZ.
The outlet reported that the immediate cause of his death was cardiac arrest due to respiratory arrest.
Peter was best known for voicing Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise and Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh.
In a heartfelt statement, Peter’s family said: “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’.”
The Montreal-born actor voiced King Kong in the 1976 remake and the evil K.A.R.R. in the Knight Rider series in 1982 and 2009.
Early in his career, he worked as a live-action performer and served as the announcer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
Peter would later voice Eeyore in the 1988 – 91 series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, later reprising the role in the feature Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year in 2002.
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He also played the small, magical creature Mogwai in Gremlins in 1984.
Peter also created the iconic clicking sounds made by the monster in Predator in 1987, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He voiced the leader of the Autobots on the 1984-87 animated series: The Transformers.
Optimus’ death after a duel with arch-nemesis Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) caused a huge and unexpected outcry, with children reduced to tears in cinemas across the world.
It prompted producers to bring the character and Cullen back in the TV series of the cartoon the following year.
The film is soon to be back in cinemas as part of a 40th anniversary mock-serious “Apology Tour” for traumatising a generation of children.
When the show was resurrected by director Michael Bay in 2007, Cullen returned to the role after more than two decades away.
“I describe it as kind of slipping into an old pair of very comfortable shoes that you haven’t worn for a while,” he told IGN.
“I just slipped right into them, and they felt as good as the last time I put them on.”
Peter also played Optimus in six more live-action Transformers films.
Tributes flooded in for the voice actor, including from his Transformers co-stars.
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Neil Ross, a cast member on the original 1980s Transformers series, said in an emotional statement: “He was a true gentleman and one of those guys that I always looked forward to working with.
“He had such a great laugh — I’ll miss hearing it. He was a great talent, but always remained humble. I will miss him.”