Star of ’90s MTV Series Dies of Cancer: Michael Haley Was 67

Michael Haley, who voiced the titular purple-skinned hero in the MTV animated series The Maxx, has died.

His son, Brendan Haley, told Entertainment Weekly that the actor passed away Saturday morning at the age of 67 following a “very abrupt battle with cancer.”

“It is with a heavy heart I write that in the early hours of Saturday morning, my dad, Michael Haley, passed away after a very abrupt battle with cancer which had been diagnosed mere months prior,” Brendan said. “Our family remains shocked and saddened by the rapid onset of his illness, but despite these tragic circumstances, we pressed close to ensure he was comfortable and surrounded by those he loved fiercely in the last days of his life. I remember my father as innately kind with a goofy sense of humor, traits he kept through these last few weeks, and the same traits best seen across his work in television, film, and radio.”

He continued, “I remember my father as innately kind with a goofy sense of humor, traits he kept through these last few weeks, and the same traits best seen across his work in television, film, and radio.”

Born in Southern California in 1957, Haley began acting at an early age, his first roles coming as a background actor in 1970s blockbusters, including the Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges-starring 1976 adventure film King Kong and Grease, the 1978 star-studded musical in which he appeared alongside Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in the “Born to Hand Jive” sequence.

Haley is best remembered for his contributions to The Maxx. An adaptation of the Image comic book created by Sam Keith and written by Keith and Bill Messner-Loebs, the animated series centered around Haley’s Maxx, a homeless man in New York City, who in an alternate reality known as the Outback is the purple protector of the Leopard Queen, who exists in the real world as freelance social worker Julie Winters, voiced by Glynnis Talken. The MTV Animation series aired 13 episodes in 1995.

Later in his career, Haley voiced characters in the video game series World of Warcraft and Diablo, per Fangoria. He also voiced Crunch Munch in a 2022 episode of his son’s sci-fi/horror/comedy podcast series It Listens From the Radio, and worked as a broadcast engineer for southern California’s PBS station, KCET, until 2015.

Reflecting on his father’s work, Brendan told EW, “He was a fearless and unique talent, most notable for voicing the titular big purple superhero Maxx in MTV / Liquid Television’s animated series The Maxx (1995). While we miss him dearly, Dad can always be found roaming the wilds of that other jungle world with the Leopard Queen, performing tremendous feats of heroism.”