Famous Voice Actors You May Not Know Are Dead

They've been a part of movies and TV for about as long as movies and TV have existed, but we often don't know what they look like or even their names. They are voice actors, the ones who finish the job of bringing to life animated characters started by the artists who drew them and the animators who made them move. While there has been a shift over the past 20 years or so toward having existing screen actors also pull double duty as voice actors — to get that star power on the movie poster — dedicated voice actors are still around and remain as important to visual mediums as those who actually appear on camera.

Most voice actors understand that theirs is a largely thankless job. If they are good at what they do, we almost forget that it's not the actual characters speaking — that's the mark of a good voice actor, as is being so good at your job that there are often multiple characters you didn't realize are played by the same actor. Still, many have managed to become legitimately famous just for being voice actors, either because they've been especially prolific, or because they are the voice of a particularly iconic character. Even so, when a voice actor passes away — even one of the more well-known ones — it often doesn't get the same media attention as when a screen actor dies, unfortunately. Let's rectify that.

As popular as the Pokémon video games were on their own, there's no arguing that it was the anime that catapulted the franchise into the global phenomenon that it would become. Those who lived in English-speaking parts of the world will probably always associate the actors that first did the English dub of the original Pokémon animated series with their respective characters. For both Misty and Jesse, that voice belonged to Rachael Lillis, who played the Pokémon trainer and Team Rocket member, respectively, in English dubs for the first eight years of those characters' existence across television, film, and video games.

Lillis also vocalized many Pokémon themselves, most notably fan-favorite Jigglypuff. Though it was through archived performances after she moved on from the franchise, she continued to be the voice of Jigglypuff as recently as the 2019 movie "Detective Pikachu," proving that she remains the definitive voice of the character. But Lillis also remained plenty busy since leaving Misty, Jesse, and Jigglypuff behind, playing major roles in the English dubs of "Hunter x Hunter" and "Genshiken" as well as Cartoon Network's 2006 series "Chaotic." Sadly, Lillis joined the list of actors who died in 2024 when she passed away from breast cancer in August, after having only been diagnosed the previous May. 

Though she had previously played young Gosalyn Mallard on "Darkwing Duck," Christine Cavanaugh's voice would soon permeate the consciousness of an entire generation when she portrayed the adorably nervous Chuckie Finster in "Rugrats." Cavanuagh continued to voice Chuckie for the first eight seasons of the series, encompassing the entirety of the show's run in the '90s and a bit into the 2000s. But it's arguably when Cavanaugh played the titular child scientist on "Dexter's Laboratory" that she really solidified her status as a voice acting legend of her era. 

She did voice many other characters — most notably Babe from the first "Babe" movie — and also showed up on a few live-action shows, but Chuckie and Dexter will always be most closely associated with Cavanaugh. She played both characters up until her sudden retirement in 2001, never really explaining why she stopped but choosing to live an entirely private life until her passing in 2014 — the cause of which has never been publicly disclosed. Despite it being an iconic cartoon that deserves a reboot, "Dexter's Laboratory" creator Genndy Tartakovsky said he would never bring it back now that Cavanaugh is gone, calling her the original soul of not only Dexter but the show itself.

While "King of the Hill" featured an absolutely stacked cast of voice and screen acting veterans — including Mike Judge, Stephen Root, Kathy Najimy, Brittany Murphy, and Pamela Adlon — the man behind one of the show's most consistent scene stealers was not only a first-time voice actor but had barely done any prior acting at all. That man was Johnny Hardwick, who you'd never know didn't have as much acting experience as anyone else in the cast from the way he portrayed chain-smoking, conspiracy-obsessed neighbor Dale Gribble. 

In fact, Hardwick had only appeared in a single independent movie and a few short films prior to his stint on "King of the Hill." But he wasn't just a voice on the show — Hardwick was also a writer and producer on "King of the Hill," with the latter job earning him three Emmy nominations and one win. Other than appearing as himself on an episode of "Ace of Cakes" and sporadic social media posts, Hardwick mostly stayed out of the spotlight after the end of "King of the Hill" but had been involved in its upcoming Hulu revival. 

However, Hardwick was found dead in his home in August 2023, the cause of which remains undetermined. It has been confirmed that he had already recorded dialog for several episodes of the revival, though it's not yet known how the show will address Dale's absence for subsequent episodes.

For the amount of time that Mickey Mouse has existed as a character, he's had a surprisingly small number of official voice performers. Though Walt Disney himself voiced Mickey in the early years, Jimmy MacDonald took over in 1946 and continued to do so until 1978. As impressive a run as that is, his replacement — Wayne Allwine — would beat his record, with Allwine currently the longest-serving voice of Mickey at 32 years. And it's only because he passed away in 2009 at age 62 that he didn't do it longer as, unlike Disney and MacDonald, Allwine had continued to voice the character right up until his passing and even has several posthumous credits as Mickey.

While MacDonald got to portray Mickey in what are arguably the character's golden years, Allwine played the big-eared mascot for numerous generational favorite projects. Kids of a certain age who first got exposed to Mickey Mouse via "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" heard Allwine in the role, with the actor voicing Mickey for the first three seasons. Allwine also played Mickey in the first two mainline "Kingdom Hearts" video games and several of its spin-offs. And Allwine got to be part of one of the most legendary moments in animation history when he played Mickey Mouse in his "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" cameo alongside Bugs Bunny, in what would be one of Mel Blanc's final performances as the rabbit. 

There are few things more adorable than the fact that the man who voiced Mickey Mouse and the woman who voiced Minnie Mouse were married, and for many years at that. In fact, Wayne Allwine and fellow actor Russi Taylor met while both actors were working on their respective characters for the 1988 TV special "Totally Minnie," getting married in 1991 and staying together all the way up until Allwine's death. 

As for Taylor, she too had a remarkably long run playing Minnie Mouse and also did so up until she died, from 1988 until 2019 when she passed away from colon cancer. In addition, Taylor's Disney duties also included her frequently playing Donald Duck nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. But Taylor is arguably just as well known for a formerly non-Disney character — prior to the company's acquisition of Fox — having played Martin Prince for over 100 episodes of "The Simpsons" plus the 2007 movie and multiple video games. During her 30-year tenure with that franchise, Taylor also played Wendell, Uter, twins Sherri and Terri, and Martin's mother, Martha. 

For the better part of 40 years, the voice of Casey Kasem was nearly inescapable. Between 1970 and 2009, he was the host of various incarnations of weekly syndicated radio countdowns, where he became famous not only for introducing the songs but also reading heartfelt letters and dedications from listeners. He also spent most of that same timespan as the voice of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, the often befuddled dog owner with a serious case of the munchies, across dozens of incarnations and offshoots of the "Scooby-Doo" franchise. 

Kasem's original run as Shaggy began in the 1969 animated series "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" and continued for decades in the majority of the character's appearances in TV shows, animated movies, video games, and more. Kasem initially quit his tenure as Shaggy in 1995 after the performer — who is a vegan — objected to Shaggy being used in a Burger King commercial. A few other actors played Shaggy over the next few years, until Kasem agreed to return to the role in 2002 on the condition that Shaggy be officially declared a vegetarian. His second stint as Shaggy continued until about 2009. 

The next year, Kasem began playing a character named Colton Rogers for the cartoon "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated," which would be his final screen credit apart from a few later repackagings of earlier "Scooby-Doo" material. Kasem passed away in 2014 at age 82 while being hospitalized with complications from Lewy body dementia (LBD). 

While the original Japanese voice actors have stayed fairly consistent through much of the "Dragon Ball" franchise, there has been a lot more change for the English dubs. Frieza, one of Goku's primary nemeses as well as one of the most popular "Dragon Ball" villains of all time, has been portrayed mainly by four actors on the English-language side of things, plus a few others who played the galactic tyrant in various minor capacities. But one of the longest and most iconic runs thus far has been that of Christopher Ayres, the main English voice actor for the character between 2009 and 2019.

Ayres first voiced Frieza for the English dub of "Dragon Ball Z Kai," a remastered version of the original "Dragon Ball Z." He then played him in all four seasons of "Dragon Ball Super." Ayres also played Frieza in the animated films "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F'" and "Dragon Ball Super: Broly," as well in a number of video games. Outside of the "Dragon Ball" franchise, Ayres played roles in the English dubs of anime like "Fairy Tail," "Gantz," "Black Butler," and "Gintama," as well as the video game series "Sengoku Basara." He was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2017, and passed away due to complications from the disease in 2021 at the age of 56. 

While most of the actors on this list were chosen because they were primarily voice actors, Arleen Sorkin was actually mostly a screen actor. In fact, during a storied career that stretched across four decades — most notably including over 400 episodes of "Days of Our Lives"  — Sorkin only voiced three characters total. But considering who one of those characters is, and the fact that said character was based on Sorkin herself, we felt it was more than appropriate to make an exception for her.

Sorkin has the distinction of being the original voice actor behind Harley Quinn, the hammer-wielding Joker protégé who made her debut on "Batman: The Animated Series." Considering Harley was an original creation for the show, Sorkin will forever be a part of the origin of one of the most popular pop culture characters of the last 30 years. But the untold truth of Harley Quinn goes even deeper: as Sorkin's friend and Harley co-creator Paul Dini explained to Hobo Trashcan, "I kind of patterned the character after [Arleen] a little bit because she's very vivacious and very funny." He went on to say that he saw Sorkin wearing a court jester costume on "Days of Our Lives," and everything just clicked.

Sorkin played Harley on and off over the years, sharing the role with many other actresses — Tara Strong being the most prolific besides Sorkin herself. Playing the character in the 2011 video game "DC Universe Online" ultimately served as Sorkin's final screen credit: She died in 2023 at age 67 as a result of multiple sclerosis-related complications.

There was a time when Marcia Wallace would have been seen as primarily a screen actor who just moonlighted in voice work. But after she played Edna Krabappel, Bart's jaded fourth grade teacher, on "The Simpsons" for an astounding 24 years, it was hard not to have that perception be reversed. Prior to her stint on "The Simpsons," Wallace was best known as Carol on "The Bob Newhart Show" and for her frequent appearances on "The Merv Griffin Show." But with the last few generations being largely unaware of those shows and only knowing her by her voice as Mrs. Krabappel, Wallace's legacy has shifted significantly.

Wallace died in 2013 at the age of 70. While characters of Edna Krabappel's level of importance to "The Simpsons" are sometimes recast after an actor's death, the show opted to retire Edna after Wallace's passing — with the show nabbing a massive Shondaland actor to play Bart's new teacher instead. Edna's passing occurred offscreen but was plainly acknowledged, although with no cause of death given and without a major plot point being built around it. Edna has appeared a few times since then, but it's always via archival recordings of Wallace rather than a different actor, with 2021's Season 32 episode "Diary Queen" said to have marked the true final farewell for the character. 

Pat Carroll's remarkable career goes all the way back to the 1940s, with the 2010s marking her final non-archival credits prior to her death in 2022 at the age of 95. While she's played a variety of roles on both the screen and the stage, it's a voice performance for which she will likely always be most fondly remembered: the all-time great Disney villain, Ursula the sea witch, in 1989's classic "The Little Mermaid." 

Carroll clearly loved the role, reprising it for many TV shows, direct-to-video productions, and video games over the years. But there is another component to her voice acting legacy that's almost just as famous as playing Ursula, only it was for a character she didn't actually get to play — well, not in the final version, anyway. Carroll was originally cast to play Jane Jetson in the 1962 animated series "The Jetsons," recording her lines for the first episode and assuming the role was hers. That is, until she found out that both she and Morey Amsterdam, the original George Jetson actor, had been replaced without their knowledge in an alleged breach of contract. 

The pair even took on Hanna-Barbera in court over the issue, although the case was ultimately thrown out. But Carroll was still discussing it in interviews 50 years on, clearly never getting over the fact that she was originally supposed to be Jane Jetson. 

Mel Blanc voiced just about every male Looney Tunes character — plus countless others outside of that franchise — pretty much right up until his death in 1989. Since then, various actors have taken over as the characters that Blanc played, some doing so for an extended period of time. One of those actors was Joe Alaskey who, for much of the '90s and part of the 2000s, portrayed some of Blanc's characters — primarily Daffy Duck, though he also voiced Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Marvin the Martian, Yosemite Sam, and others at various points and for varying lengths of time.

On top of being the main Daffy for 15 years or so, Alaskey also originated the voice of Plucky Duck on "Tiny Toon Adventures." Outside of Looney Tunes and Looney Tunes-adjacent projects, Alaskey's most well-known role was that of Grandpa Lou Pickles on "Rugrats," taking over the role in Season 5 and playing him for the remainder of the original series, all three theatrically-released "Rugrats" films, and the 2003 sequel series "All Grown Up!" Alaskey died from cancer in 2016 at the age of 63, with his final performances consisting mostly of playing Droopy the dog in various "Tom and Jerry" direct-to-video animated films — yet another iconic character he had added to his impressive repertoire. 

One of the most hotly contested debates in pop culture history is which actor has done the best job portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman. Typically, the names thrown around are the ones who have been associated with the legendary DC comics vigilante in live action — Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and so on. But there are many who not only think another name should be included, but insist that this name is the definitive screen version of the Dark Knight. That name belongs to Kevin Conroy, the Caped Crusader's longest-serving voice actor and most prolific screen Batman, period.

Conroy first voiced the character in "Batman: The Animated Series," essentially becoming the go-to guy to play the superhero in most of his major non-live-action projects — from other TV series to animated films, video games, and more. Conroy even got the opportunity in 2019 to cameo as the character in live-action on the series "Batwoman," as part of the Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event, to the great delight of fans — and, certainly, to Conroy himself. 

The devastating death of Kevin Conroy occurred three years later, though he left behind a body of work as Batman that will go down in history as one of the most incredible and beloved runs that any single actor ever had playing the same character. There's very little that all members of any fandom can agree upon, but you'd be hard-pressed to hear an unkind word about Conroy's portrayals of Batman.