While the deaths of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry are all over the news recently, there has been a near absence of the same coverage of the passing of Peter Cullen. Cullen was a Saturday morning staple in the 1980's. He was the narrator on Voltron - Defender of the Universe. He voiced characters in Saber Rider and the Star Sherrifs. He and Frank Welker (Fred from Scooby Doo and Megatron from Transformers) were on Dungeon and Dragons as Venger and Uni the baby unicorn respectively. Cullen was famously known as the voice of Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. And of course as Optimus Prime. He left his mark on so many childhoods and will be missed. "Till All Are One".
Loving tribute to these artists. I think that if you want to stir up controversy for controversies sake, then you’re not very genuine. Dolly was always genuine and that’s why she was famous all her life. Working with someone sweet, kind and respectful will give you longevity.
Beautiful tribute to all three! The Rocky Horror Picture Show saved my life as a nerdy, socially awkward teenager in the 1980s; I spent every weekend of the last two years of high school at my local theater's midnight showing of it. I'm still friends with a lot of my fellow misfits who also went every weekend, almost 40 years later. And I really think his performance affected a lot of people, even boring cisgender straight people like me. I remember the entire theater, including a lot of my very straight, very HUH HUH I'M TOUGH guy friends, enthusiastically shouting:
Audience: "Who's Tim Curry?"
Columbia, on screen: "MY GOD!"
Audience: "HE'S MY GOD TOO"
I grew up in a very conservative area, but, when I and my Rocky Horror friends had a reunion, about 15 years ago, it was surprising to see how many of them had grown up into liberal, kind, open-minded adults. I will never be convinced that hundreds of hours we spent with that movie didn't have an influence. The best kind of propaganda. :)
I was unaware Peter Cullen was the voice of Venger! Being a girl in the 1980s, Transformers never really caught me, but I LOVED the Dungeons & Dragons series.
And thank you, Dolly, for writing one of the very best songs ever penned about capitalism. A rich man's game, indeed.
I loved both Tim Curry and Dolly Parton and their iconic personas, and I was lucky enough to see both of them in concert. Dolly came to my home state in the 2010s, and her performance was magnificent! Curry sang rock-and-roll at a bar in my college town in the late 1970s, and I bought a ticket solely because his portrayal in "Rocky Horror Picture Show" had electrified me as a young, rural student who had never encountered any drag queens (or sexually open) characters in real life or film up to that point. In fact, I left the theater with work colleagues, after midnight and discovered my beat-up car had been broken into - window smashed - and my bag of restaurant work clothes were stolen (there was nothing else to be had). And, yet, my memories of that "Rocky Horror" night remain among my fondest -- all because of Tim Curry.
Rocky Horror person here! Spent entire weekends at midnight showings as a teen in the early 80s. Tim Curry is a god in this house.
Unfortunately I don't have much to add about Optimus Prime. But hubby and I are planning a tribute movie marathon to both Tim & Dolly this weekend, starting with "Muppet Treasure Island" and "9 to 5" (an aside, Dabney Coleman's lecherous boss really rings true for a lot of us Boomer women). Interestingly, we had just rewatched "Clue" a month or so ago.
I thought you’d find this of particular interest.
Personal reflections: One night in 1986 that changed my life forever…
In memory of Peter Cullen.
https://neilsmartin.substack.com/p/personal-reflections-one-night-in
Lovely!
While the deaths of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry are all over the news recently, there has been a near absence of the same coverage of the passing of Peter Cullen. Cullen was a Saturday morning staple in the 1980's. He was the narrator on Voltron - Defender of the Universe. He voiced characters in Saber Rider and the Star Sherrifs. He and Frank Welker (Fred from Scooby Doo and Megatron from Transformers) were on Dungeon and Dragons as Venger and Uni the baby unicorn respectively. Cullen was famously known as the voice of Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. And of course as Optimus Prime. He left his mark on so many childhoods and will be missed. "Till All Are One".
Loving tribute to these artists. I think that if you want to stir up controversy for controversies sake, then you’re not very genuine. Dolly was always genuine and that’s why she was famous all her life. Working with someone sweet, kind and respectful will give you longevity.
Godspeed to all these amazing talents.
Beautiful tribute to all three! The Rocky Horror Picture Show saved my life as a nerdy, socially awkward teenager in the 1980s; I spent every weekend of the last two years of high school at my local theater's midnight showing of it. I'm still friends with a lot of my fellow misfits who also went every weekend, almost 40 years later. And I really think his performance affected a lot of people, even boring cisgender straight people like me. I remember the entire theater, including a lot of my very straight, very HUH HUH I'M TOUGH guy friends, enthusiastically shouting:
Audience: "Who's Tim Curry?"
Columbia, on screen: "MY GOD!"
Audience: "HE'S MY GOD TOO"
I grew up in a very conservative area, but, when I and my Rocky Horror friends had a reunion, about 15 years ago, it was surprising to see how many of them had grown up into liberal, kind, open-minded adults. I will never be convinced that hundreds of hours we spent with that movie didn't have an influence. The best kind of propaganda. :)
I was unaware Peter Cullen was the voice of Venger! Being a girl in the 1980s, Transformers never really caught me, but I LOVED the Dungeons & Dragons series.
And thank you, Dolly, for writing one of the very best songs ever penned about capitalism. A rich man's game, indeed.
I loved both Tim Curry and Dolly Parton and their iconic personas, and I was lucky enough to see both of them in concert. Dolly came to my home state in the 2010s, and her performance was magnificent! Curry sang rock-and-roll at a bar in my college town in the late 1970s, and I bought a ticket solely because his portrayal in "Rocky Horror Picture Show" had electrified me as a young, rural student who had never encountered any drag queens (or sexually open) characters in real life or film up to that point. In fact, I left the theater with work colleagues, after midnight and discovered my beat-up car had been broken into - window smashed - and my bag of restaurant work clothes were stolen (there was nothing else to be had). And, yet, my memories of that "Rocky Horror" night remain among my fondest -- all because of Tim Curry.
https://youtube.com/shorts/wdCN59SFnK0?si=OMtBaY6zKa9etYA-
Never thought a YouTube short would be a great memorial, but...
Great tribute to three giants we lost this week.
Rocky Horror person here! Spent entire weekends at midnight showings as a teen in the early 80s. Tim Curry is a god in this house.
Unfortunately I don't have much to add about Optimus Prime. But hubby and I are planning a tribute movie marathon to both Tim & Dolly this weekend, starting with "Muppet Treasure Island" and "9 to 5" (an aside, Dabney Coleman's lecherous boss really rings true for a lot of us Boomer women). Interestingly, we had just rewatched "Clue" a month or so ago.
Rest easy, kids.