Thursday, March 23, 2023

Brendan O’Brien obit

Original Crash Bandicoot voice actor dies aged 60

 He was not on the list.


Brendan O’Brien voiced not just Crash Bandicoot but several of his villains in the Naughty Dog era of PlayStation 1 games.

Long time fans of the Crash Bandicoot games are in mourning at the moment, as they have recently learned of the death of one of its original voice actors, Brendan O’Brien.

Both of O’Brien’s parents were actors and he primarily worked for movies and TV shows, but he was perhaps best known for being the voice behind Crash Bandicoot.

He may never have spoken full sentences, but he provided all of Crash’s various yelps and screams (including the now memetic ‘woah!’) which many fans still remember dearly.

It wasn’t just Crash either. He did the voices of several of the series’ villains as well, including Tiny Tiger and N. Gin. He even voiced main antagonist Dr Cortex, at least for the first game.

Aside from the original trilogy of PlayStation 1 games, O’Brien worked on the kart racer Crash Team Racing, party game Crash Bash, and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex (the first post-Naughty Dog mainline entry).

He took a hiatus from acting in 2004 but did pop up in an episode of Riverdale as a maths teacher in 2020.

His voice lines for Crash were re-used for a handful of Game Boy Advance games but he was eventually replaced by Jess Harnell in 2005, who voiced Crash for the next 14 years of games.

The current voice of Crash is Scott Whyte, who took over with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.

 

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1973    Honor Thy Father            Child            TV movie

1989            Hollywood Chaos            Guido Luini     Indie film

1995    Get Street Smart: A Kid's Guide to Stranger Dangers            Capricorn's Dad (voice)  Short film

1996    The Legend of Galgameth            Heretic

1997    Casper: A Spirited Beginning            Terrified Worker            Direct-to-video

1998    3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain            Zed     

1999            P.U.N.K.S.     Repo Supervisor       

2000    The Trial of Old Drum            Brendan          TV movie

Wild Grizzly            Earl            TV movie

2001    Race to Space            Centrifuge Technician   

2003            Grindhouse     Father Holloway         


Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1991    Candid Camera            Pincushion/Self 2 episodes

1992    The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys            Milkman / Award Presenter            2 episodes

1997    Spicy City            Additional voices            Episode: "Love Is a Download"

1997–1999            Todd MacFarlane's Spawn            Additional voices            6 episodes

2020            Riverdale          Math Teacher            Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Four: Wicked Little Town"

2021    The Slowest Show            Male Millionaire            TV Mini-series

Episode: "Bowling Alley"; Final role

 

Video games

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1996    Crash Bandicoot            Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Neo Cortex, Doctor Nitrus Brio      

1997    Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back    Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Nitrus Brio, Doctor N. Gin, Komodo Moe, Tiny Tiger            

1998    Crash Bandicoot: Warped            Crash Bandicoot, Tiny Tiger, Doctor N. Gin 

1999    Crash Team Racing            Tiny Tiger, N. Gin, Pinstripe Potoroo            

2000    Crash Bash     Crash Bandicoot, Tiny Tiger, Doctor Nitrus Brio, Komodo Moe, Papu Papu       

2001    Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex  Crash Bandicoot, Tiny Tiger   

2002    Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure            Crash Bandicoot            Archive recordings

2003    Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced            Crash Bandicoot, Fake Crash

2004    Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage            Crash Bandicoot

2016            Uncharted 4: A Thief's End      Crash Bandicoot

 

Crew work

Year     Title            Position            Notes

1987    Keep on Crusin'            Writer            TV series

Contributing writer

1990    Guys Next-Door            Writer            TV series short

Contributing writer

1994    The Secret World of Alex Mack            Drama coach, dialogue coach   4 episodes

1997    In Cold Sweat   Writer            Video

As Alex Smart

2000    Wild Grizzly            Composer            Television film


No comments:

Post a Comment