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Tom Kane died on May 18, 2026, at 64, from complications related to a 2020 stroke.
He was a devoted husband and father of nine, six of whom were adopted, which is amazing. Anyone who chooses to adopt six children should be commended. But that does not tell you why you should care.
After all, roughly 150,000 people die daily (according to Consensus). Seeing a picture of Kane’s face won’t answer that question either. More than likely, he is a complete stranger to you. Except he is not.
If you had a fairly modern upbringing, then Tom Kane was a common aspect of your childhood, voicing Professor Utonium (The Powerpuff Girls), the villain HIM (The Powerpuff Girls) and Mr. Herriman (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends).
If Saturday morning cartoons were not your cup of tea, Kane also voiced Master Yoda (The Clone Wars) and Woodhouse, the elderly butler in Archer. If that is not enough to jog your memory, you must have heard him at the start of every Clone Wars episode.
He narrated the opening crawl that laid the foundation for every adventure you watched. Therein lies the challenge of voice acting. The profession is heavily embedded in every aspect of entertainment, particularly in the current generation, where digital characters have become so commonplace in live action.
And yet, the people who voice your favourite digital characters (and the cartoon characters who educate your children) are literal strangers, because you can’t attach their voice in fiction to a real- life face.
As such, people don’t even notice when they die (excluding icons such as Kevin Conroy) or when studios replace them. Daisuke Gori (Jinbei in One Piece, Mister Satan in Dragon Ball Z, Dondochakka in Bleach) killed himself in 2010 at the age of 57 after realizing that diabetes was stealing his eyesight.
If you grew up in a Spanish-speaking country, you are probably familiar with Hiromi Hayakawa’s voice. She did the Spanish American dub for Merida in Disney’s Brave. Complications from a pregnancy claimed her life.
Liza Willert is somewhat similar, in the sense that English speakers won’t know her. She did the Latin American Spanish dub for Dexter’s mother in Dexter’s Laboratory. Willert died from Cervical Cancer in 2009.
Rachael Lillis voiced Misty and Jess in the English dubs for Pokémon before succumbing to breast cancer. Casey Kasem voiced Shaggy on the various incarnations of Scooby-Doo for decades. He passed away in 2014 (complications related to Lewy Body Dementia).
Christopher Ayres was Frieza in the English version of Dragon Ball from 2009 to 2019. He died from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The list is endless, and to clarify, no one is asking you to mourn these individuals retroactively.
Rather, if you have seen or heard an animated character that brings you immense joy, make an effort to learn about the voice actor who gives them life. Talk about them the same way you would Keanu Reeves in John Wick or Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man. Help them gain the same visibility and notoriety that live-action actors and actresses enjoy because their work is no less impactful.
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, https://observer.ug/lifestyle-entertainment/voice-actors-are-truly-unsung-heroes/
