Mike McFarland, the American veteran anime voice actor known for One Piece and Dragon Ball, has died at 56 after a battle with brain cancer.
Brina Palencia, a friend of McFarland, announced his death on Wednesday.
According to Palencia, the actor spent his final days surrounded by friends and family at a care facility in Dallas.
In the months before his death, friends from the voice-over community visited McFarland. They sang songs and shared stories to lift his spirits.
Palencia also said McFarland would have wanted people to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the SPCA in his memory.
Several of his colleagues also took to social media to pay tribute to the late actor.
Matt Mercer, a fellow voice actor and close friend, recalled McFarland’s impact on his career. He described him as witty, welcoming and talented.
“Been swinging between numb and emotional since yesterday. Mike McFarland has been a source of joy for so many for so long. One of my favourite directors to work with over the years, he took chances on bringing me onto projects that have defined much of my career (AoT, One Piece, etc), but more than that, he was a brilliant friend,” he wrote.
Mercer also remembered the fun moments they shared over the years, including time spent in Texas and at conventions.
“He was terrifyingly clever and witty. He was welcoming and playful. He was talented as fuck. He was brilliant. It is so unfair that we lost you so soon. Miss you, buddy. Rest well.”
McFarland’s anime career
McFarland was one of the early and influential figures in Texas-based anime production.
He worked as a voice actor, scriptwriter, director and line producer on English dubs of Japanese anime.
The actor was best known as the original English voice in Funimation’s dubs of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.
His other credits included Psycho-Pass, Fullmetal Alchemist and Attack on Titan. He also voiced Buggy the Clown in Funimation’s English dub of One Piece.
As a voice director, McFarland worked on several Funimation titles, including Dragon Ball, Fullmetal Alchemist, Case Closed and Attack on Titan.
Leave a Reply