Video Game Voice Actors Who Have Died In 2024

2024 has been a mixed year for the gaming industry. There have been some surprising and exciting hits like "Helldivers 2" and "Black Myth: Wukong," but there have also been some deeply upsetting events. We've seen devastating video game cancellations and record-setting layoffs hit developers big and small. On top of all that, we've also lost some truly talented people who helped bring dozens of games and related media to life.

Gaming brings people together, which is why the community has been shocked by unexpected deaths in the past. Some of the losses gamers have faced this year were truly unexpected, but all of them hit gamers harder than they might have expected. We've lost some of our favorite video game voice actors of all time this year, so let's take a moment to remember them and celebrate the work they did that helped shape an industry.

Mark Dodson landed an iconic voice role in a live-action movie so early in his career that many people might not even realize how consistently he worked in video games. Dodson's career got off to an auspicious start in 1983, with his first credited acting role being the voice of Salacious Crumb in "Return of the Jedi," a role he reprised many times over the years. Fans heard his vocal work again as a Mogwai in "Gremlins," released the very next year.

Dodson started showing up in video games a few decades later, making his gaming debut in 2010's "Star Trek Online." From that point, Dodson started showing up in all kinds of video games, including horror titles like "Lucius" and epic fantasy MMOs such as "Neverwinter." He also stayed closely tied to the sci-fi genre through roles in "Rebel Galaxy" and "Ghostrunner." In fact, his very last role was in "Galacticare," a game in which players manage a hospital in the depths of space. Sadly, Dodson died of unspecified causes at the age of 64 in March.

Sam Mowry is a recognizable voice actor for many gamers, but most fans probably only know about half of his story. Mowry spent most of his life living in Portland, Oregon, where he was heavily involved in the local theater scene. Throughout his career, Mowry spent a huge chunk of time performing on stage in everything from Shakespeare plays to modern dramas, often acting alongside his wife, Cindy McGean. Mowry's voice acting career dates back to the mid-90s'. His video game debut was the 1996 mech combat-sim game "Earthsiege 2," in which he voiced the narrator. From there, video games began getting more and more of Mowry's attention, and he voiced characters in "Gauntlet," "Sly Cooper," and the "Penumbra" series. In particular, plenty of gamers will recognize him as the voice of Alexander in viral horror sensation "Amnesia: The Dark Descent," and even more will know him as Rhaast from "League of Legends."

Mowry died on July 21, 2024, after going into cardiac arrest. He was 64 years old at the time. According to the Oregon Artswatch, in the wake of Mowry's death, his wife shared a message in his honor: "Find each other and share stories and hugs and maybe a glass of whiskey or some bacon."

Rachael Lillis is an actor that millions of people love, whether they realize it or not. She voiced Misty, and other characters like Jessie and Jigglypuff, in the "Pokémon" animated series, so countless kids grew up listening to her performances. Lillis will always be best known for her work in animated series like "Berserk," "Winx Club," and the aforementioned "Pokémon," but she also lent her voice to several different video games over the years. She started doing voice work for games back in 1999, picking up roles in "Super Smash Bros." and "Valkyrie Profile." Her last video game role was in 2015's "Lego Jurassic World."

In May 2024, fans were crushed to learn about a tragedy in Lillis' personal life: She'd been diagnosed with breast cancer, and despite her years of steady work, she struggled to make ends meet. Lillis' sister shared a GoFundMe page to pay for Lillis's treatment, and some of her "Pokémon" costars helped promote the fund. In August, fans were further devastated to learn that Rachael Lillis had passed away. Friend and "Pokémon" cast mate Veronica Taylor shared the news on X, writing, "Rachael was an extraordinary talent, a bright light that shone through her voice whether speaking or singing." Fans showed up in the comments in droves to share their love for Lillis and to talk about just how much her characters meant to them.

If you only play games with English voice actors or dubs, you'd be forgiven for not knowing Atsuko Tanaka by name. In Japan, however, there's probably not a single gamer who hasn't heard her voice at one point or another. Tanaka was an incredibly prolific actor who began doing voice work in the early 1990s. She quickly landed roles in landmark animated shows and movies, voicing the main protagonist in 1995's "Ghost in the Shell," and it didn't take long for that work to lead her to video games.

Tanaka started by voicing characters in fairly niche games, but by 1997 she was voicing Lara Croft in "Tomb Raider 2." Her list of acting credits is downright dizzying: "Fate/stay Night," "Devil May Cry," "Final Fantasy," "Armored Core," "Street Fighter," and "Persona," just to name a few beloved franchises. Tanaka worked non-stop through the 2000s and 2010s, taking roles big and small in some of the greatest video games of all time. In the later years of her career, Tanaka started voicing one of her most iconic characters, Bayonetta, which will be a large part of how gamers remember her. Gamers and anime fans everywhere got the news that Tanaka had died on August 20, 2024. Her son shared the sad update on social media, though he didn't say what specific illness Tanaka had been fighting in the year leading up to her death.

In September, the world lost one of its voice acting greats. After receiving a call for a wellness check, police in Burbank found that Peter Renaday had died of natural causes in his home at age 89. Renaday's acting career began back in the 1960s, and over the decades, he got to take part in some of the biggest franchises of all time. Before even getting to video games, there's no way to mention Renaday without talking about the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated series. Renaday voiced Splinter throughout the series, as well as a slew of minor characters. That series began in the late 80s, and then Renaday's video game career kicked off in the '90s when he voiced Kingpin and Mysterio in "The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin."

After that, Renaday's voice acting career didn't slow down. In addition many more TV voice roles, he began adding more video games to his busy schedule. He joined the "Metal Gear Solid" universe as Richard Ames in "Sons of Liberty." He also voiced characters in the "Dead Rising," "Ninja Gaiden," and "Gears of War" series, as well as crushed roles in "Fallout: New Vegas" and "Dragon Age: Origins." Basically, if you've loved a nerdy property in the past three decades, you've probably heard Renaday's voice countless times.