R.I.P. Robert Culp


Here’s a sad start today’s posting. Kotaku report Robert Culp has died, aged 79. Despite his long history in television, he’ll be best known to UK PC Gamers as the voice of Dr. Wallace Breen in Half Life 2. For full details, I’ll direct you at CNN.

55 Comments

  1. 25/03/2010 at 11:35 Dileep says:

    FIrst the Oracle. And now Dr. Breen…. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  2. 25/03/2010 at 11:36 int says:

    How bizzarre, I was just watching Everybody Loves Raymond and he was on playing Debra’s dad.

    Rest, Robert.

  3. 25/03/2010 at 11:43 Navagon says:

    RIP, dude.
    You’ve got to admit though, it really sums it up that he died of old age before Episode 3’s release.

    • 25/03/2010 at 11:59 AndrewC says:

      No good man would laugh at this.

    • 25/03/2010 at 12:24 The Diddler says:

      >before Episode 3’s release.

      Oh snap !

    • 25/03/2010 at 12:37 John Walker says:

      Thus I am not a good man.

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:07 Gorgeras says:

      Bwahaahahaa! Almost warms the cockles of my black heart. Almost; I’ll still need to throw another kitten in the furnace.

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:15 Pijama says:

      Hey… If the shoe fits… I doubt that the guys at Valve are unaware of this. ; )

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:28 Lewis says:

      To be fair, it appears he died due to a head injury after a fall, if early details are to be believed.

      A massive shame. An exceptional actor who will be missed.

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:31 AndrewC says:

      Spoilsport.

    • 25/03/2010 at 17:54 Robomutt says:

      Falls are far more of a problem as you get older. It’s fair enough to consider the fall as a proximate cause of death, but caused by the underlying condition of old age. People all die of something.

      We can perhaps take one positive note from this. Old people can still be voice actors long past the point where they can safely be live action heroes…

  4. 25/03/2010 at 11:47 LimeWarrior says:

    That’s a shame. His voice is so iconic in HL2, for me at least. On the positive side, it’s a good thing the character died in HL2. Now you don’t get the awkward: “let’s get another actor to play this character, when the first actor was the best possible option.”

    • 25/03/2010 at 11:55 Rich says:

      It’s never quite right when that happens. It’s be a real shame for the HL series to jump the shark.

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:26 Ricc says:

      I would dispute the fact that Breen is dead.

    • 25/03/2010 at 17:25 Gorgeras says:

      Yeah in one of those blink and you’ll miss it moments, Breen was having a conversation with a Combine before Freeman interrupted it, discussing Breen being given a new(possibly Combine) body so he can survive in the Xen dimension. We never actually saw Breen die, he could have passed over to Xen at the moment of the explosion.

      Given the advanced age of Robert Culp even when HL2 came out, I say Valve knew it was possible the actor wouldn’t be around for any possible return and ensured there was a sufficient excuse for a voice change.

    • 25/03/2010 at 20:23 DJ Phantoon says:

      Not with how fast I scaled the tower, Gorgeras. He’s dead.

      Go back and play it again as fast as you can. He won’t even be halfway up.

  5. 25/03/2010 at 11:51 Rich says:

    The HL series has some of the best dialogue, voice acting and generally believable characters of the whole medium; no cheese in sight. Breen was one of the best.

    Shame I haven’t seen any of his performances outside of Half-Life 2.

  6. 25/03/2010 at 11:57 GT3000 says:

    Sad story, could’ve used a vampire.

  7. 25/03/2010 at 12:06 Saucy says:

    Oh no…

  8. 25/03/2010 at 12:07 The Hammer says:

    Culp was the pinnacle of an excellent cast of Half Life 2. He really set the tone of the game. Very sad to hear the news.

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:09 MJS says:

      Quite, the introduction walking through the train station and city would be nothing with the announcements. This with and his input in other areas really made the game.

      I cant imagine that any person who eagerly awaited HL2 release, didnt feel a little tingle up their spine as they stepped out of the train for the first time and heard the ‘Welcome, welcome to city 17’ speech.

      Sad news

  9. 25/03/2010 at 12:16 zzzzzzz says:

    Muahahahaha!

  10. 25/03/2010 at 12:18 Monchberter says:

    Let me read a letter I recently received. ‘Dear Dr. Breen. Why has the Combine seen fit to suppress our reproductive cycle? Sincerely, A Concerned Citizen.’ Thank you for writing, Concerned. Of course your question touches on one of the basic biological impulses, with all its associated hopes and fears for the future of the species. I also detect some unspoken questions. Do our benefactors really know what’s best for us? What gives them the right to make this kind of decision for mankind? Will they ever deactivate the suppression field and let us breed again? Allow me to address the anxieties underlying your concerns, rather than try to answer every possible question you might have left unvoiced. First, let us consider the fact that for the first time ever, as a species, immortality is in our reach. This simple fact has far-reaching implications. It requires radical rethinking and revision of our genetic imperatives. It also requires planning and forethought that run in direct opposition to our neural pre-sets. I find it helpful at times like these to remind myself that our true enemy is Instinct. Instinct was our mother when we were an infant species. Instinct cuddled us and kept us safe in those hardscrabble years when we hardened our sticks and cooked our first meals above a meager fire and started at the shadows that leapt upon the cavern’s walls. But inseparable from Instinct is its dark twin, Superstition. Instinct is inextricably bound to unreasoning impulses, and today we clearly see its true nature. Instinct has just become aware of its irrelevance, and like a cornered beast, it will not go down without a bloody fight. Instinct would inflict a fatal injury on our species. Instinct creates its own oppressors, and bids us rise up against them. Instinct tells us that the unknown is a threat, rather than an opportunity. Instinct slyly and covertly compels us away from change and progress. Instinct, therefore, must be expunged. It must be fought tooth and nail, beginning with the basest of human urges: The urge to reproduce. We should thank our benefactors for giving us respite from this overpowering force. They have thrown a switch and exorcised our demons in a single stroke. They have given us the strength we never could have summoned to overcome this compulsion. They have given us purpose. They have turned our eyes toward the stars. Let me assure you that the suppressing field will be shut off on the day that we have mastered ourselves… the day we can prove we no longer need it. And that day of transformation, I have it on good authority, is close at hand.

    Brilliant delivery

    • 25/03/2010 at 13:20 Lilliput King says:

      What was brilliant about Breen as a villain was that those speeches were never just rhetoric – he genuinely believed siding with the combine was the best possible option available to humanity. We could imagine being put in his shoes, and coming to his decision. But on top of that he was human, subject to fear and anger, twisted by watching Freeman cut a bloody streak through the broken city he was desperately trying to repair.
      Always felt like Culp got that.

    • 25/03/2010 at 14:28 ThePinkNinja says:

      I wondered if Breen was genuine and when you go after him at the end and he is questioning you I was actually questioning myself…

      But then he does something cowardly and bullshit

      I forget what though

    • 25/03/2010 at 14:54 Mr_Day says:

      His line asking “You have destroyed so much, what exactly have you created? Can you name even one thing?” gave me a significant pause for thought when I heard it. Not just because of the line, I am well aware that whilst we have been in Gordon’s shoes the most we have contributed to scientific endeavor is to test imact physics on a variety of targets.

    • 25/03/2010 at 17:06 Nick says:

      Now now Mr Day, we also pushed a crystal into a sparkly thing.

    • 25/03/2010 at 19:51 Mr_Day says:

      “Gee, Gordon, that MIT education must pay for itself.”

    • 25/03/2010 at 21:35 RedFred says:

      Haha brilliant.

  11. 25/03/2010 at 12:21 Lack_26 says:

    He was definitely one of my favourite characters from HL2, such a shame to hear of his death. As Monchberter has quoted, he did some truly excellent work with Breen.

  12. 25/03/2010 at 12:35 Frenz0rz says:

    God damn, that is a massive shame. I had no idea he was that old.

    Rest in peace.

  13. 25/03/2010 at 12:39 Quasar says:

    It’s always the cool ones that die…

    Might have to replay HL2, I did love Breen…

  14. 25/03/2010 at 12:55 Wulf says:

    That’s a shame, it really is. He voiced a great villain in Breen and he had quite a few acting accomplishments under his belt, too. It’s always a sad thing when a creative soul leaves the world, because all of their individuality, their approaches, and everything they had to share is now set in stone, it can’t grow any further, and we’ll never know how far that potential could have gone.

    Bloody shame, really is.

    RIP.

  15. 25/03/2010 at 13:36 Beavis says:

    oh well, its a shame.

    cant say the performance particularity stood out though

  16. 25/03/2010 at 13:40 bill says:

    For me he’s best known as the guy who was always guilty in Columbo…

  17. 25/03/2010 at 14:02 PHeMoX says:

    @Ricc: While I agree story-wise, it’s not like Valve have much of a choice NOW though.

    No doubt he did a great job at voice acting, a shame.

  18. 25/03/2010 at 15:17 frymaster says:

    also, the later speech where it’s made clear that the alternative to his collaborative puppet government was the extinction of homo sapiens

    brilliant, talented man. will be missed

  19. 25/03/2010 at 15:28 DMJ says:

    No well written villain considers himself to be a villain. Except, of course, the Joker. Breen was a villain due to his weakness and inability to sacrifice for what matters. Life as a slave-drone is no life, and he sold us to the Combine to exchange living as humans for survival as Combine “clients”.

    The fact that I think these things about a character means that I was sold on the character by the voice performance. Sad to see talent go.

    • 25/03/2010 at 18:53 FunkyBadger says:

      The thing is, DMJ, he made his choices and extrapolated them to the whole of humanity, just as you did.

      SO WHO’S THE REAL VILLAIN, EH?

      ;-)

  20. 25/03/2010 at 15:28 wokjraslnfsa says:

    Good night, sweet prince.

  21. 25/03/2010 at 15:33 wokjraslnfsa says:

    The first casualty of old age waiting for Half Life Episode 3. Anyone else think this is funny? Because I do.

  22. 25/03/2010 at 15:36 Vitamin Powered says:

    My condolences to his family.

    His Breen character was, as has been put so well by previous posts, part of what made Halflife 2 Halflife 2.

  23. 25/03/2010 at 16:30 Stupoider says:

    His voice is one of the main reminders of why HL2 was so awesome. Stepping off that train and hearing that.. wow. Rest in peace!

  24. 25/03/2010 at 18:22 laughoutlord says:

    *pours out 40 of Dr>Breens Private Reserve on the curb*

  25. 25/03/2010 at 19:02 Uhm says:

    I think Valve have gone too far in their marketing strategy this time.

    (Did they find the encrypted note in his personal possessions yet?)

  26. 25/03/2010 at 20:21 Serph says:

    Breen dead from a fall? Not so fast!

    link to hlcomic.com

  27. 25/03/2010 at 20:42 Joe z says:

    A true gentleman and great actor. Will be missed dearly.

  28. 25/03/2010 at 21:39 Mr. Versipellis says:

    Awww, what a shame, he was a great voice actor. RIP. Now I’ll feel guilty dropping cars on breen in the GMOD.

  29. 25/03/2010 at 23:24 Psychopomp says:

    :<

  30. 25/03/2010 at 23:44 Nox says:

    He was my favorite part of Greatest American Hero. And I, Spy. And HL2.

    I’m actually upset by this. Not surprising, since he’s entertained me so much over the years, I guess. It’s just the realization that I’ll never get to hear or see him perform anything that I haven’t already gotten to enjoy. On one hand, I should consider myself fortunate. On the other, sadness.

    Rest in peace, Mr. Culp. I’m going to name my next pet Agent Bill Maxwell.

  31. 26/03/2010 at 00:25 Shadow Wulf says:

    Poor Mr. Culp, he was the best cast in HL2, did a fantastic job on acting out as the evil tyrant in City 17. A shame he has to die before HL3, I was expecting for Valve to have him make some sort triumphant return.

    RIP Robert Culp

  32. 26/03/2010 at 03:11 Soobe says:

    His unappreciated (and as far as I know, uncredited) work in this video:

    link to youtube.com @ :12

    Was a pinnacle of entertainment. I miss him already.

  33. 26/03/2010 at 05:27 Anthony says:

    A damn fine actor who totally owned the role we gamers best know him for.

    I’ll raise a glass of Breen’s Private Reserve in his honour.

  34. 27/03/2010 at 04:23 VanHero says:

    Bwahaahahaa! Almost warms the cockles of my black heart. Almost; I’ll still need to throw another kitten in the furnace.

    Literally LOL’d there, thanks.

    Oh, and, this is sad news. He really brought something special to HL2; I loved how Breen would pop up on the monitors to taunt me as I made my way through the Citadel. My memory of Culp goes back to “The Greatest American Hero”, which I loved as a kid.