thedailyfeed:

Ever wondered who the voice behind Optimus Prime is? 71-year-old, 5’6” Peter Cullen, that’s who.

Growing up on a farm in Montreal, Canada, “I started off doing the sounds of cows and dogs and cats,” the 71-year-old tells Flash.
 
Then in high school, Cullen fell in love with acting after he appeared in the play “12 Angry Men.” “I got a great reception,” he says, “so I decided, ‘Well, gee, acting sounds really great.’ ”
 
With that in mind, Cullen moved to California, where he landed several roles in movies and on TV, including a four-year stint as the announcer for “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
 
But eventually Cullen decided to turn away from the camera and to the microphone. “My family came first and lifestyle and Hollywood was a far distant second,” he explains.
 
That decision paid off bigtime when he auditioned for Optimus Prime in 1984.