Brendan O'Brien, Crash Bandicoot Voice Actor, Dead at 60

Actor Brendan O'Brien, who voiced Crash Bandicoot in Naughty Dog's original 1990s games, has died. He was 60. O'Brien died on March 23, according to his obituary. No cause of death was provided.

O'Brien was born on May 9, 1962, in Hollywood. His parents were Oscar-winning actor Edmond O'Brien and singer Olga San Juan. After attending Loyola High School in East Los Angeles, he studied at Loyola Marymount. He developed a keen interest in music at an early age. "Brendan had an inventory of music in his head, if he didn't know a song he would learn it and play it for you during your next visit," his family wrote. "Music, humor, and endless knowledge were the themes of his life."

O'Brien made his acting debut when a director put him in an episode of The Streets of San Francisco when he was 10. He would go on to appear in Hollywood Chaos, Casper: A Spirited Beginning, and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. He voiced characters in Spicy City and the 1997-1999 animated adaptation of Todd MacFarlane's Spawn. In 2020, he played a math teacher in a Riverdale episode.

However, to many, he is known as the voice actor behind Crash Bandicoot. He voiced multiple characters in the original beloved PlayStation games, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash Team Racing, Crash Bash, and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. His work continued to be used during games released in the 2000s.

"One of his proudest moments was coming up with the original voices for the Crash Bandicoot video games during the Naughty Dog years of 1996 to 2004," O'Brien's family wrote. "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."

The current Crash Bandicoot team at Activision acknowledged O'Brien's work on Twitter Monday. "Sharing our sincere condolences to Brendan O'Brien's loved ones for his passing," the statement read. "He was an incredible talent who brought Crash Bandicoot and other Crash characters to life. He will forever live on in the hearts of Crash fans."

"The man is a legend, bringing us such incredible characters alongside the most iconic single-word voice line in any video game ever," one fan wrote on Twitter. "An absolute legend. He was iconic as Crash but his performance as Pinstripe in CTR will always be my personal favorite," another commented.

O'Brien is survived by his wife, Ingrid K. Behrens, whom he married in 2000. He is also survived by his sisters, actress Maria O'Brien and Bridget O'Brien Adelman.