Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime, dead at 85

Peter Cullen, whose booming voice defined "hero truck" Optimus Prime, Knight Rider's KARR and intimidating characters in many other shows and movies, is dead at 85. TMZ was first the report the Canadian actor's death at his Los Angeles home.

Peter's family tells TMZ … "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 honor his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember 'be strong enough to be gentle.'"

I didn't realize he also voiced the alien hunter in 1987's Predator and Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. How's that for range! As deep-voiced as he was, Cullen sometimes injured himself attaining the register he was famed for.

"I'm not going to do any monster sounds," Cullen remembers telling his agent prior to the audition for Predator. "I can't. My throat is really, kind of, burned up." Apparently, he had just finished recording eleven reels of material for King Kong and had started to cough up blood, something he shrugs off as being a hazard of the job. After being egged into going to the audition anyways, Cullen insisted on seeing the creature before attempting to find the voice. From an outsider's perspective, this seems like an obvious step in the process, but the filmmakers were hesitant, perhaps wanting to keep their big monster reveal under wraps.

It's been a rough week, with Dolly Parton and Tim Curry both dead at 80. You may have missed that Kjell Nilsson, known for his role as Lord Humungus, also recently left us.