Robert Culp, voice of Dr. Breen, passes away at age 79

Bobby Miller 26 Mar, 2010 at 12:54pm ET Article published in Gaming

American actor Robert Culp has died in Los Angeles at the age of 79. Culp, known best for his role in the 1960’s television series “I Spy”, he also impacted many gamers with his outstanding voiceover performance as Dr. Wallace Breen in Half-Life 2 and its subsequent episodes.

Culp’s publicist issued a statement about Culp’s death, but details were reserved. Culp was taking a walk in a park in Hollywood and apparently fell, hitting his head. He was pronounced dead in the hospital half an hour later. His death was ruled an accident, and no foul play was involved.

There is no word yet if Culp’s death will impact the production of the already delayed Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Dr. Breen has played a pivitol role in Half-Life 2 as a puppet antagonist, and at the game’s climax, Breen will certainly command a large role.

The gaming community will always remember Culp as the man who welcomed us all to City 17 for the first time, and ushered us into a world of tense storytelling. We have all come to hate Dr. Breen, but we loved Robert Culp for the life he breathed into the character. He will be missed.

Comments

26 Mar 2010 ~ 1:31pm Cliff_Forster Bobby,

Now this is good journalism. Guy kicks it jogging, and you find a way to make it relevant for gamers. Bravo.

I had no idea Robert Culp did that voice, now I feel like I have to go back and play.
26 Mar 2010 ~ 1:36pm FLUFFY! :D OMG! This sucks... Such a good man had to die befire the release of their last game.

Freaking' Valve.
26 Mar 2010 ~ 2:16pm UPSLynx Thank you, Cliff. This news was important to me, as Culp really had great performances in Half-Life 2. It is terribly unfortunate that he passed away, and I'm glad that his legacy will live on in the games.

He impacted a lot of gamers, most of which had no idea who Culp was. I don't think most gamers consider how fragile it is, for game dev cycles to be as long as they are, and that the voices for the characters are just as real as the people playing them.

I don't know where voiceovers fit into the video game dev pipeline - I should know. In animated films, voices are one of the first thing they do so animators have work to sync to. I'd imagine voiceovers happen early in game dev as well, but with the lip sync tech that Valve has, it isn't particularly necessary. Hopefully, all the work is already in the can.

It was six years ago when Culp first stabbed us in the heart as Dr. Breen. By the time Episode 3 comes out, the entire HL2 saga will have spanned a development time of over ten years. That's a long time to keep voice actors involved.
27 Mar 2010 ~ 12:36am Chip-Dapper No foul play, eh?

Has Gordon Freeman at least been brought in for questioning?
27 Mar 2010 ~ 1:51am clifford_cooley Really you can do that?
You can bring someone in for questioning when there is no evidence of foul play?

I must have seen to many TV shows. There was always a need to have evidence before someone could be brought in for questioning.
27 Mar 2010 ~ 2:03am Chip-Dapper They could establish some serious motive, though.
27 Mar 2010 ~ 6:20am Snarkasm Usually in game dev timelines, voice acting is done towards the end so there are no more story twists and the mechanics aren't going to change much.

We'll miss you, Mr. Culp.
27 Mar 2010 ~ 8:45am Cliff_Forster

I can not publicly admit how much my brother and I loved this TV show.
27 Mar 2010 ~ 9:18am SPIKE09 wtf is that cliff :S
27 Mar 2010 ~ 9:22am Cliff_Forster

SPIKE09 wrote:

wtf is that cliff :S

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Q3orQhEcA
27 Mar 2010 ~ 9:31am SPIKE09 OK.......... that little TV gem didn't cross the pond
28 Mar 2010 ~ 8:33pm Linc

Cliff wrote:

I had no idea Robert Culp did that voice

Ditto that. Brought home the headlines of the day.
29 Mar 2010 ~ 11:19am Zadok I'm pretty sure Breen die at the end of episode 2. In which case Culp wouldn't have been involved with episode 3, at least in that role.

Still it's to bad he has passed on.
29 Mar 2010 ~ 11:50am Thrax I'm sure they would have liked to record additional voice clips for various propaganda pieces that would no doubt be present in Episode 3. Breen may be dead, but an oppressive society does not simply die with its leader.
29 Mar 2010 ~ 2:06pm UPSLynx You might be right, but it was never explicitly implied that he died. If I've learned anything from Hollywood, it's that if you don't see the character die, they're not dead.
29 Mar 2010 ~ 2:07pm Snarkasm And even if you do, they're not necessarily.
30 Mar 2010 ~ 11:43am Cliff_Forster

Thrax wrote:

I'm sure they would have liked to record additional voice clips for various propaganda pieces that would no doubt be present in Episode 3. Breen may be dead, but an oppressive society does not simply die with its leader.

That for me is the single most powerful moment in gaming. When you walk outside to see City 17 for the first time, with that monitor fueling the propaganda machine, for me, it was a real WOW moment. It was like, Holy shit, this is better than any film I have ever seen... It was the moment that I knew games had a future in entertainment for years to come.

Amazing, I knew who Robert Culp was, but I had no idea it was his voice. Its a complement really, that I did not hear him, but his character.

Seriously, its the most single brilliant moment in all of gaming for me. I can't think of anything that even comes close.
30 Mar 2010 ~ 12:48pm UPSLynx Everything about that opening sequence was incredible. The propaganda pieces, the people being ushered off the train and oppressed, seeing the interactive physics in action, the robot drones... and the moment you step outside, and the birds fly off across in front of you, and you see the Strider walk by.

Man, that game.
30 Mar 2010 ~ 9:05pm ardichoke In honor of Robert Culp, I think I'm going to have to play HL2 through again...