Peter Cullen Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What Is Peter Cullen’s Net Worth and Salary?

Peter Cullen is a Canadian voice over artist who has a net worth of $6 million. Peter Cullen began his professional career in the ’60s on the Canadian radio program “Funny You Should Say That.” From there, he went on to work as an announcer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.” Peter is most widely known for his work as Optimus Prime on “The Transformers” series. He was cast as the voice of both Optimus Prime and Ironhide on the popular animated series. The death of Optimus Prime in 1986’s “The Transformers: The Movie” was so unpopular that the producers ultimately chose to bring him back from the dead. Cullen has continued to voice the role in the live-action feature film versions of “The Transformers” as well as in “Transformers” TV shows and videogames. In 2011, he earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for the Hub Network series “Transformers Prime.” Peter has also voiced Eeyore in several Winnie the Pooh projects, and he provided the voice of the title character in the 1987 film “Predator.”

Early Life

Peter Cullen was born Peter Claver Cullen on July 28, 1941, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is the son of American parents, Muriel and Henry Cullen, and he has three siblings, Sonny, Michaela, and Larry. Peter has Irish heritage. He graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1963 and was part of the school’s first graduating class. His brother Larry, a retired captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, helped inspire Peter’s Optimus Prime voice.

Career

In 1968, Cullen and Joan Stuart played Giles and Penelope in the recurring segment “L’Anglaise” on the CBC Radio program “Funny You Should Say That.” In 1969, Peter starred as astronaut Commander Bi Bi Latuque on the CFCF-TV children’s show “The Buddies.” He worked as a radio announcer in Montreal, and from 1967 to 1969, he served as the announcer for the CBS variety show “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” Cullen was a series regular on another CBS reality show, “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” from 1971 to 1974, and in 1974, he was the announcer on the CBS series “The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.” In 1979, he voiced Brandon Brewster / Mighty Man on “Mighty Man and Yukk” and various characters on “Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.” In the ’80s, Peter did voice work in the films “Heidi’s Song” (1982), “Gremlins” (1984), “Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer” (1985), “Voltron: Fleet of Doom” (1986), “My Little Pony: The Movie” (1986), “King Kong Lives” (1986), “G.I. Joe: The Movie” (1987), “Predator” (1987), “Rockin’ with Judy Jetson” (1988), and “Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears” (1988).

Cullen also voiced characters on television series such as “The Smurfs” (1981), “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” (1981), “Pac-Man” (1982), “The Little Rascals” (1982), “Knight Rider” (1982), “Mister T” (1983–1985), “Dungeons & Dragons” (1983–1985), “Snorks” (1984), “Voltron: Defender of the Universe” (1984), “Rainbow Brite” (1984–1986), “Alvin and the Chipmunks” (1984–1985), “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” (1985–1986), “The Jetsons” (1985–1987), “Muppet Babies” (1986), “Pound Puppies” (1986), “My Little Pony” (1986), “DuckTales” (1987–1988), “The Real Ghostbusters” (1987), “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (1988–1989), “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” (1988–1991), and “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” (1989–1990). From 1984 to 1987, he voiced Optimus Prime on “The Transformers.” He reprised the role in the films “The Transformers: The Movie” (1986), “Transformers” (2007), “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011), “Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising” (2013), “Transformers: Age of Extinction” (2014), “Transformers: The Last Knight” (2017), “Bumblebee” (2018), and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” (2023) and the television shows “Transformers: Prime” (2010–2013), “Transformers: Rescue Bots” (2011–2016), “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” (2015–2017), “Transformers: Titans Return” (2017–2018), and “Transformers: Power of the Primes” (2018).

In the ’90s, Peter lent his voice to the films “The Little Engine That Could” (1991), “The Story of Christmas” (1994), and “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin” (1997) and the TV shows “TaleSpin” (1990), “Tom & Jerry Kids” (1990–1993), “Tiny Toon Adventures” (1990–1992), “Widget the World Watcher” (1990–1991), “The Pirates of Dark Water” (1991–1993), and “Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh” (1996). Next, he voiced characters in the films “The Tigger Movie” (2000), “The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart” (2001), “Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse” (2001), “A Very Merry Pooh Year” (2002), “Piglet’s Big Movie” (2003), “Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo” (2004), “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” (2005), and “Tigger and Pooh and a Musical Too” (2009) and the television series “House of Mouse” (2001), “The Book of Pooh” (2001–2002), “My Friends Tigger & Pooh” (2007–2010), “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2019), and “Invincible” (2023–present). Cullen has also voiced Optimus Prime in more than a dozen video games and Eeyore in the video games “Piglet’s Big Game” (2003) and “Disney Magical World 2” (2016).

JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GettyImages

Personal Life

Peter has welcomed four children: Angus, Pilar, Clay, and Claire. He is good friends with Frank Welker, who has voiced Optimus Prime’s rival, Megatron, in “Transformers” projects. Cullen is a supporter of NASA and has been interested in the organization since 1969’s Apollo 11 moon landing.

Awards and Nominations

In 2011, Cullen earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for “Transformers Prime.” He has won four Behind the Voice Actors Awards out of 12 nominations: Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series for “Transformers Prime” (2012), Best Vocal Ensemble in a TV Special/Direct-to-DVD Title or Short for “Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising” (2014), and the BTVA Television Voice Acting Award and BTVA People’s Choice Voice Acting Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series for “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” (2016). Peter has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Voice Arts Awards (2019) and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2023). In 2010, he was inducted into the Transformers Hall of Fame.