TMZ reported that longtime Hollywood voice acting star Mike McFarland has passed away at the age of 56. While his cause of death was not officially confirmed, he was fighting brain cancer for most of the last couple of years. Brina Palencia, a friend of McFarland’s who organized a GoFundMe page for him during his health issues, confirmed that he was surrounded by friends and family in Dallas, Texas when he passed. Crunchyroll, one of the biggest anime TV distributors and streamers in the game, honored McFarland’s memory with the following statement to Variety:
“Mike brought so much to all of us who knew him, and to all of the anime fans that knew his work. He was an incredible talent, a good friend to so many of us and will be sorely, sorely missed.”
Boasting well over 350 acting credits on his long résumé, McFarland is perhaps best known for his long run on the One Piece animated series (later remade into a live-action show), in which he voiced multiple roles for nearly 20 years. His biggest and most celebrated role on the show is Buggy the Clown, the Captain of the Buggy Pirates and eventual Cross Guild co-founder. Starting as an early villain, Buggy is known for his tendency to “fail upward” thanks to sheer luck, charisma, and massive misunderstandings by the World Government as he becomes one of the Four Emperors of the sea. He also voices a couple of other minor characters: Roshio and Sarquiss.
McFarland also stakes a claim to fame in another massive anime franchise, Dragon Ball Z, most notably voicing the role of Master Roshi. He provided the original Funimation English dub for the martial arts master, who acts as an elder voice of wisdom and often serves as a big source of comic relief. Combining his status as a wise and old master with a “dirty old man” persona and largely casual attire (highlighted by sunglasses and a turtle shell on his back), he is well over 300 years old in the show and trains countless young fighters over the centuries. Other characters he voices include Yajirobe, Android 8, and Baby.
Fuji TV
Elsewhere in the anime world, McFarland is highly recognized for his credits as Jean Kirstein in Attack on Titan, Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist, and multiple characters (Mashirao Ojiro and Ectoplasm) in My Hero Academia. He is also recognized just as highly for his work as an ADR director on all the previously mentioned shows, where he showcased his impressive expertise across multiple disciplines of filmmaking and storytelling. The team at MovieWeb sends its heartfelt condolences to Mike McFarland’s family, friends, fans, and loved ones during this difficult time.
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