Peter Fernandez, dead at 83!

[ASTROBUDDY]

I just read about the passing of Peter Fernandez, the voice of "Speed Racer"! He did so much in the early days of imported Japanese animation, both import and export! Besides writing some of the English scripts for the original 1960s "Astro Boy", he was also very active in the sixties, dubbing foreign films for release in the U.S.A. through his involvement with Titra Studios! Those of us who have enjoyed anime and the better dubbed foreign films of the sixties owe a great debt to Mr. Fernandez! I met him briefly at a convention a few years back and I am pleased to say he was a very intelligent and cordial person with a great sense of humor! Any one else want to share any other memories of growing up listening to the voice of Peter Fernandez! His voice can be heard in "KImba", Alakazm, the Great!; Marine Boy and most recently in the new Speed Racer,the next generation series! I ;

[AprilSeven]

Thanks for sharing this, Astrobuddy. Sad news, but I had no idea of his body of work, so it's really wonderful to learn of the different ways in which Peter touched our lives.

What's more, he's from Rockland County (right between where you and I live -- in fact my best friend's inlaws live in Pomona. Small world!). In the article this link connects to, they say there will be a public celebration of his life in September -- maybe some of us who live close by could attend and meet! An Astroboy Online contigency!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-15/speed-racer-voice-actor-peter-fernandez-passes-away

When they took Astro off the air (back in the 60's) I watched Kimba (I recognized the same voice actors), Speed Racer, Gigantor, 8th Man and Marine Boy. None were as important to me as AB, but I did enjoy them all.

Rest in peace, Peter and thank you for your wonderful work!

That monkey in Speed Racer was way too creepy, though.

[jeffbert]

I believe he also provided some voices for Spaghetti Westerns, among them, A FIST FULL OF $. I have the complete Speed Racer series on DVD, & noted he used the same voice characteristic for the main character in S 3 of STAR BLAZERS. We will miss him.

[Fauna]

He also played a variety of characters on Gigantor (the 1963 version of Tetsujin 28), including my favorite character on the show, Dick Strong/Kenji Murasame the spy. Didn't he do some voices in Ultraman, too? I hold a lot of respect for him, since he was able to put up with playing so many characters. At least he lived to be fairly old...

[avatargirl]

So sad to hear of his death- thanks for caring to tell us of his talents- ASTROBUDDY- yes we will miss him- why i come here is cause i love the people here and pray everyone will be safe

[Anime Girl]

R.I.P.

[Black Rabbit]

Very sad.

[Fauna]

Here's a great article about him on Anime News Network, written by a guy who specializes in articles about retro anime and actually talked to Peter...

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/the-mike-toole-show/2010-07-18

The guy worked on so many different shows, not even just anime! I can only dream of being that successful!