Before He Was Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen Came Into Montrealers’ Homes With the Hits

Before Peter Cullen became the voice of Optimus Prime, Eeyore, KARR and the Predator, he was a Montreal radio voice. Born here in 1941, Cullen began his career behind the microphone at CKGM, honing the voice that would eventually become one of the most recognizable in popular culture. For Montrealers listening in those days, he wasn’t a legendary voice actor. He was simply a familiar voice on the radio, keeping people company and playing the hits.

Cullen had graduated from Canada’s National Theatre School with its first class in 1963, but radio and television quickly became part of his professional life. In the late 1960s, he appeared with Ted Ziegler on CFCF-TV’s children’s comedy The Buddies, playing Commander Bi Bi Latuque, a French-Canadian astronaut. He also appeared on CBC Radio’s Funny You Should Say That. It was a remarkably Canadian beginning for a man who would eventually become one of the most recognizable voices in the world.

Cullen eventually moved into American television, becoming the announcer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and appearing on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Those years allowed him to do what would become his specialty: creating personalities with nothing more than his voice.

Then came Optimus Prime.

When The Transformers arrived in 1984, Cullen became the voice of the leader of the Autobots. He gave Prime more than a booming voice. There was authority, warmth and a sense of responsibility in the performance. Cullen drew some of that character from his brother Larry, a former U.S. Marine Corps captain, helping create a voice that sounded less like a cartoon tough guy and more like a leader people could trust.

Then, somehow, the same man became Eeyore.

That contrast may be the best demonstration of Cullen’s talent. Optimus Prime was strong, confident and ready to lead an army into battle; Eeyore was a gloomy donkey who seemed permanently disappointed with the universe. Yet both were unmistakably Cullen. He understood that great voice acting wasn’t simply about changing your voice. It was about creating a completely different personality.

His résumé only gets stranger from there. Cullen was KARR, the evil prototype of KITT on Knight Rider. He provided the vocal effects for the Predator in the 1987 film and supplied the voice of King Kong in the 1976 movie. He voiced Venger in Dungeons & Dragons, Monterey Jack in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers and a long list of other animated characters. His film credits also include Gremlins and numerous later Transformers movies.

That’s the strange thing about voice actors: they can become part of your childhood without becoming familiar faces. You remember the character immediately, but the person behind the microphone can remain almost invisible. Cullen was one of those rare performers whose voice kept finding new characters and new generations.

His death at 85 brings that home, particularly here in Montreal. We didn’t just discover Peter Cullen after he became famous. There were Montrealers who heard him on CKGM, saw him on local television and listened to him on CBC before the rest of the world knew his name.

Before the Autobots, before Eeyore and before Hollywood, Peter Cullen was here, behind a microphone, talking to Montrealers and playing the hits. A listener could have heard him late at night without ever imagining that the voice coming through the radio would eventually belong to Optimus Prime.

And Optimus Prime had one of the most famous commands in pop culture: “Autobots, roll out!” Cullen delivered it with the authority that made Prime feel like more than a cartoon character. It was the voice of a leader telling everyone it was time to move forward.

But now another Prime line carries a very different weight: “One shall stand. One shall fall.”

Peter Cullen has fallen, but the characters he gave us will keep speaking. And here in Montreal, his story has one more chapter: before he was Optimus Prime, he was the familiar voice coming through our radios, bringing Montrealers the hits.

For those who heard him then, they knew the voice long before the rest of us did.

Recommended Reading

• Peter Cullen on Letterboxd — his film work, including Transformers: The Movie, Predator, King Kong, Gremlins and the later Transformers films.
• Peter Cullen — Television Academy — a concise look at his television and voice career.
• CKGM Radio History — Montreal — a look back at the legendary Montreal station and its place in the city’s radio history.

Tony M.

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