Rick May, who first verbalized one of the most famous lines in Star Fox 64 (“Do a barrel roll!”) passed away at the age of 79 this week, reports gamesindustry.biz. The voice actor suffered a stroke in February and subsequently contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus during his rehabilitation.
He contributed voices to several video games including Team Fortress 2, Age of Empires II and the third Sly Cooper game, but was almost certainly best known for voicing Peppy Hare in Star Fox 64. In addition to Peppy (who had the most lines of dialogue in the game), he also voiced the Star Fox team’s nemesis, Andross.
His career spanned games and theatrical endeavours- and, early on, even included an uncredited appearance in George Lucas’s American Graffiti. He was also a voiceover instructor for the Seattle-area Rekindle art school.
Through Peppy’s lines, May’s work has carried on to become internet meme legend over the decades- even topping the list of a fan-voted contest in an attempt to get the line included in the first live-action Transformers film. Even Google got in on Peppy’s advice back in 2011: try typing “do a barrel roll” into a search there for a fun Easter egg!
