Brendan O’Brien dead at 60: PlayStation fans mourn original Crash Bandicoot voice actor
ACTOR Brendan O’Brien, who originally voiced the beloved PlayStation character Crash Bandicoot, has died at age 60.
O’Brien died on March 23, however, his death was not revealed until May 9, according to his obituary published on Legacy.
One of O’Brien’s proudest moments came from voicing the iconic video game character.
“One of his [O’Brien’s] proudest moments was coming up with the original voices for the ‘Crash Bandicoot’ video games during the Naughty Dog years of 1996 to 2004,” the obituary read.
“He encouraged nostalgic Crash fans in their own pursuits and loved signing their memorabilia. Like music, designing character voices for animation, radio and video games came naturally to him.”
Nostalgic gamers paid tribute to O’Brien on social media, tweeting: “I hope Brendan O’Brien rests well. His voice talent he brought to the Crash series’ shouldn’t be forgotten.”
“Might stream one of the OG Crash games tomorrow in light of Brendan O’Brien’s passing, that guy voiced my childhood man ,” shared another fan.
Along with Crash Bandicoot, O’Brien voiced several other characters from the series during the Naughty Dog era of the Sony franchise, including Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio, among others.
Released exclusively on Sony’s PlayStation 1 in 1996, the Crash franchise is set on the fictitious Wumpa Island, where humans and mutant animals co-exist.
The series’ protagonist is a genetically enhanced bandicoot named Crash, whose quiet life on the island is interrupted by the game’s villain Doctor Neo Cortex, who created Crash.
Upon its release, the Crash franchise was an instant commercial success, becoming one of the first Western games to succeed in Japan.
The first Crash game sold nearly seven million copies as of November 2003, according to Gamasutra.