Mike McFarland, the iconic voice star behind Dragon Ball’s Yajirobe and Master Roshi in the English dub, and more has died at the age of 56. News of the iconic star’s passing had been popping up through the evening as fellow members of the industry had begun sharing their tribute, and a new report from TMZ has unfortunately confirmed that McFarland has died following a battle with brain cancer. McFarland had been revealed to have been battling an illness last Summer, with a GoFundMe (which has since been paused) opened to aid in recovery.
As revealed by Brina Palencia, who organized the GoFundMe campaign, to TMZ, McFarland was surrounded by friends and family at a Dallas health facility. They were also told that over the last few months, colleagues from the industry had been sharing their love and support for McFarland to help keep his spirits up. With one of the most legendary voices in anime dubs for a huge generation of fans, Mike McFarland’s loss is truly a heavy one.
Mike McFarland has been one of the key drivers behind English dubs and their popularity in the United States. Serving on projects as a voice actor, ADR director, script writer and more since beginning with the medium in the 1990s, there’s a good chance that modern anime fans have heard his voice thanks to the number of iconic characters he had brought to life over the course of his storied career. The biggest of which include characters like Master Roshi and Yajirobe in the Dragon Ball anime franchise, where he was attached to the characters through Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and more.
Dragon Ball GT even allowed the actor to fully dive into his villain era with Baby, a villain that was such a standout that it still is a shame that he was never fully incorporated into the overall canon. McFarland also was iconic in many of other Funimation English dub productions that have gone down as absolute classics over the years too. He was not only involved in shows like Fruits Basket, Gantz and Yu Yu Hakusho, but brought characters like Jean Havoc to life in Fullmetal Alchemist.
One of McFarland’s best blends of villainy and comedy came with his time with Buggy the Clown, where he served as the dub voice for the Funimation produced (and now Crunchyroll) release of One Piece. Buggy is arguably one of the most prominent villains in the entire series (he was Luffy’s first major opponent in the East Blue, after all), and McFarland is who many fans associate with the character above all else. McFarland played such a key role that it’s hard to image the dubs of these shows without his voice helping them along.
McFarland was a key player in other modern day juggernauts too with the likes of My Hero Academia (where he voiced heroes like Ectoplasm) and Attack on Titan as Jean Kirstein. It’s clear that no matter what show you might have watched within the last two decades, you have heard McFarland’s voice helping to usher you through all of action in front of your eyes.
Out deepest condolences and thoughts go out to Mike McFarland’s family, friends, and loved ones at this time. But the star has left behind a legacy that will continue to inspire anime fans and the world at large for many more decades to come.
HT – TMZ
