This page contains affiliate links. We may earn commissions when readers interact with or purchase items through these links. For more information, see our affiliate disclosures here.

John Stephenson passes away at 91

Discuss anything about the Transformers cartoons and comics! You can discuss anything from G1 to Cybertron as well as the comics from Marvel, Dreamwave, IDW and more!

John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Sabrblade » Sun May 17, 2015 8:43 pm

Motto: "Can't do a job halfway. What's worth doing is worth doing well, I say."
Weapon: Saber Blade
http://www.newsfromme.com/2015/05/17/jo ... son-r-i-p/

Legendary voice actor John Stephenson has passed away at the age of 91. Among his many voice roles, he was known as the voice of Mr. Slate on The Flintstones, and to Transformers fans, he was the voices of Alpha Trion, Thundercracker, Windcharger, Huffer, Kup (seasons 3 and 4, not the movie), Devcon, and some smaller roles in the G1 cartoon.
"When there's gold feathers, punch behind you!!"

Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
User avatar
Sabrblade
God Of Transformers
Posts: 38768
News Credits: 436
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:22 pm
Location: Tampa, FL
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 10
Speed: 7
Endurance: 8
Rank: 9
Courage: 8
Firepower: 7
Skill: 9

John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby william-james88 » Sun May 17, 2015 9:13 pm

Motto: "'till All Are One"
Thanks to sources provided by Sabreblade, we have the sad news that legendary voice actor John Stephenson has passed away at the age of 91. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's for some time and living in a nursing home. Among his many voice roles, he was known as the voice of Mr. Slate on The Flintstones, and to Transformers fans, he was the voices of Alpha Trion, Thundercracker, Windcharger, Huffer, Kup (seasons 3 and 4, not the movie), Devcon, and some smaller roles in the G1 cartoon.

The Internet Movie Database lists 232 credits for him as both an on-camera and voiceover actor and we are pretty certain that this is just a fraction of the work he did.

May you rest in peace sir.

Image
If you have any news, rumours, or hot new sightings to report which you feel should be front paged,
please contact us using this form.

Image
User avatar
william-james88
News Staff
Posts: 32586
News Credits: 4496
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:46 am
Buy from william-james88 on eBay

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby steve2275 » Sun May 17, 2015 9:16 pm

Motto: "it may not get better
but it wont get any worse"
rest in peace and thank you john stephenson
i come and go more than a hmw programmer
or a karma chameleon
BEAT L.A.
im content
WWWYKI!!!
steve2275
City Commander
Posts: 3203
Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 6:38 am
Watch steve2275 on YouTube
Strength: 2
Intelligence: 2
Speed: 2
Endurance: 2
Rank: 2
Courage: 2
Firepower: 1
Skill: 2

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Nemesis Maximo » Sun May 17, 2015 9:28 pm

Motto: "Always Be’s-ing and do’s-ing, never cheesing or choosing!"
Weapon: Gatling Cannon
All this time, I had thought Frank Welker did the voice for Thundercracker in the G1 cartoon.

Ah, well. Rest in peace, Mr. Stephenson.
Back at it again!
Marvel Legends Domino

SW's SilverHammer wrote:Eat my ass funpub.

Burn wrote:And this is for taking Nemesis Maximo seriously.
*high fives Silly in the face*

carytheone wrote:I can't be assed to do any better right now.
User avatar
Nemesis Maximo
Gestalt
Posts: 2658
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2012 11:59 pm
Location: Northern Lower Michigan
Alt Mode: Lounge Lizard
Strength: 8
Intelligence: 8
Speed: 5
Endurance: 6
Rank: 5
Courage: 10
Firepower: 10+
Skill: 7

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby fenrir72 » Sun May 17, 2015 9:42 pm

Motto: "Power to the strong and the right!"
Weapon: Plasma Cannon
Thank you for the memories dear sir! :-(
User avatar
fenrir72
God Of Transformers
Posts: 10540
News Credits: 60
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:37 am
Location: SEA
Buy from fenrir72 on eBay
Alt Mode: Mobile Ground Fortress
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 9
Speed: 6
Endurance: 10+
Rank: 9
Courage: 10
Firepower: 8
Skill: 9

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Emerje » Sun May 17, 2015 10:49 pm

Motto: "Spellcheck's antithesis."
Weapon: Saw-Edged Pincer
Man, what a big hit for G1 fans, some really popular voices there. He'll definitely be missed.

Emerje
User avatar
Emerje
News Staff
Posts: 10166
News Credits: 235
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 9:15 am
Location: Maine
Alt Mode: Lobster Moose
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 4
Endurance: 8
Rank: 6
Courage: 10
Firepower: 3
Skill: 6

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby morphobots » Sun May 17, 2015 10:51 pm

Met him at a Botcon in North Carolina years ago. The autograph line was stalled and we chatted for several minutes. He was very honored to see so many people who enjoyed his work. "It's an actor's dream come true," he said.
User avatar
morphobots
Targetmaster
Posts: 647
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:47 am

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby CrankyOldTruck » Sun May 17, 2015 11:12 pm

Motto: ""Experience,lad... you should learn to appreciate it!""
Weapon: Old-Style Musket Laser
Rest In Peace Mr. Stephenson.

What with Kup being my all time favorite character, John joins Lionel Stander (the actor who portrayed Kup in the '86 Movie) on my list of personal heroes.
A truly great talent among the world of VA's.
I'm a cigar chomping, Energon guzzling, crotchety old bot that's tough as nails, two days older than dirt, can out grouch Ironhide, out-complain Huffer, leave Bluestreak speechless with a single glare and make Grimlock back down in a stare-off. If you're nice, and extremely lucky, I may only tell you to go blow it out your exhaust pipe!
CrankyOldTruck
Minibot
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:57 pm
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 9
Speed: 6
Endurance: 9
Rank: 8
Courage: 10
Firepower: 5
Skill: 8

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby MemphisR56 » Mon May 18, 2015 12:42 am

Motto: "An inconvenience is just an adventure wrongly viewed!"
Weapon: Crossbow
so sad to see anotheof the alltime greats go.

til all are one.
PSN: MemphisR56
Twitter: @Ratchphis

Image
User avatar
MemphisR56
Pretender
Posts: 778
News Credits: 6
Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2013 4:36 am
Location: Liverpool, UK
Watch MemphisR56 on YouTube
Buy from MemphisR56 on eBay
Strength: 7
Speed: 3
Endurance: 9
Rank: 5
Courage: 9
Firepower: 6
Skill: 6

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Black Bumblebee » Mon May 18, 2015 1:11 am

Truly, one of the greats has passed today. His wide array of work speaks for itself. He will be missed.
Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/Pepsimus to see the latest episodes of The War Within animated, adapted from the comic of the same name. Episodes 1 & 2 complete!
User avatar
Black Bumblebee
Pretender
Posts: 793
News Credits: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:06 pm
Buy from Black Bumblebee on eBay

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby tfstarfire » Mon May 18, 2015 2:19 am

I am really sad about this as I liked Thundercracker as well as A3
tfstarfire
Mini-Con
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 2:10 am

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Ravage XK » Mon May 18, 2015 4:03 am

Motto: "Are those my feet?"
Weapon: 20 Megavolt Stun Rifle
Just checked his credits and he was involved in so many things I enjoyed. Spacecats for crying out loud!! Galaxy High I remember when it was shown on TVAM. I always thought that Mr Slate was voiced by Mel Blanc.

RIP Mr Stephenson.
Image

TF COUNT: Lost count!
Latest Additions: Haslab Unicron, Siege Jetifre, SS Blitzwing
User avatar
Ravage XK
Gestalt
Posts: 2344
News Credits: 15
Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2004 10:38 am
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Strength: 10+
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 9
Endurance: 7
Rank: 7
Courage: 10+
Firepower: 10+
Skill: 10+

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Coptur » Mon May 18, 2015 4:05 am

Greatly missed always loved the the G1 Thundercracker voice as its quite hard to copy and match right sound to replicate.

John Stephenson's Thundercracker has been my ringtone for about 6 years "Thundercracker to Soundwave, Thundercracker to Soundwave" from More than meets the eye part 1 or 2 (or to me Arrival from Cybertron VHS movie)

you'll be missed good sir and I salute you.
Coptur
Vehicon
Posts: 396
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:32 pm

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby SideswipeSkywarp » Mon May 18, 2015 9:31 am

Very sad news. Now all the voice actors for my first Transformers are gone. I bought 4 on a cubs scouts trip in 1984. It was before the cartoon came out. They looked cooler than Go-bots so I wanted all of them. They only had 5 mini cars. I noticed Windcharger changed into a Trans am, I took him first, 2nd was Huffer, 3rd I think was Gears, then a yellow Cliffjumper. I was checking who I didn't have yet and someone took the only yellow Bumblebee. I wish I could have met him at that convention years ago. I read some where that he was supposed to be 93 this year. Someone must be wrong. :BOT: :CON:
SideswipeSkywarp
Mini-Con
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:01 pm
Location: USA

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Legosrawsum » Mon May 18, 2015 10:44 am

Rest in peace he was a really cool guy :-(
Legosrawsum
Mini-Con
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2014 1:35 pm


Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby MaverickPrime » Mon May 18, 2015 3:44 pm

Motto: "Why do I even bother?"
Weapon: Metal-slashing Claw
This is really sad to know, I hope he's in a better place now.
MaverickPrime
Vehicon
Posts: 330
News Credits: 26
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:15 pm
Location: Mexico, the land of awful toy distribution.
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 10
Speed: 9
Endurance: 7
Rank: ???
Courage: 10
Firepower: 7
Skill: 10

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby padfoo » Mon May 18, 2015 5:08 pm

Weapon: Concussion Cannon
Sad to hear, god bless!
User avatar
padfoo
Headmaster Jr
Posts: 590
News Credits: 4
Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 9:47 am
Strength: 8
Intelligence: 8
Speed: 7
Endurance: 10+
Rank: 7
Courage: 9
Firepower: 10+
Skill: 7

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby Ultra Markus » Mon May 18, 2015 8:29 pm

Motto: "“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” - Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight"
Weapon: 16 Cannons
dont forget scooby doo!
User avatar
Ultra Markus
Gestalt
Posts: 2287
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 5:48 pm
Alt Mode: the biggest baddest thing ever
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 10
Speed: 7
Endurance: 10
Rank: 9
Courage: 10
Firepower: 10
Skill: 10

Re: John Stephenson passes away at 91

Postby RK_Striker_JK_5 » Tue May 26, 2015 7:23 pm

Motto: "'Til All are One!"
Weapon: Electron Gun
A belated and heartfelt RIP to him. :( Thank you for the memories.
Not caring about scale since 1984. Just like Hasbro.
RK_Striker_JK_5
Faction Commander
Posts: 4352
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:48 pm
Location: New Hampshire
Strength: 4
Intelligence: 9
Speed: 6
Endurance: 10
Rank: 2
Courage: 9
Firepower: 4
Skill: 6


Return to Transformers Cartoons and Comics Forum

Transformers and More @ The Seibertron Store

Visit our store on eBay
These are affiliate links. We may earn commissions when you purchase items or services through these links.
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "THE TRANSFORMERS #9 2nd ptg Marvel Comics 1985 (CA) Manley (W) Budiansky 230926B"
THE TRANSFORMERS # ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Transformers REIGN STARSCREAM #2 RI-A 1:10 IDW Comics 2008 Movie Sequel 2RIA"
Transformers REIGN ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "TRANSFORMERS vs TERMINATOR #4 Cvr A IDW Comics 2020 APR200726 4A (CA) Fullerton"
TRANSFORMERS vs TE ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "THE TRANSFORMERS #4 1st ptg Marvel Comics 1985 (CA) Texeira (W) Salicrup 230915M"
THE TRANSFORMERS # ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED FCBD IDW Comics 2008 Free Comic Book Day 230227"
TRANSFORMERS ANIMA ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Transformers REIGN STARSCREAM #2 Cvr A IDW Comics 2008 Movie Sequel 2A 210411B"
Transformers REIGN ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "THE TRANSFORMERS #41 Marvel Comics 1988 (W) Budiansky (CA) Delbo 231222V"
NEW!
THE TRANSFORMERS # ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "THE TRANSFORMERS #8 1st ptg Marvel Comics 1985 (CA) Bright (W) Budiansky 230915A"
THE TRANSFORMERS # ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "TRANSFORMERS #3 Cvr E 1:50 Image Comics 2023 1023IM389 3E (CA) Dragotta"
TRANSFORMERS #3 Cv ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "TRANSFORMERS BEAST WARS #2 Cvr A IDW Comics 2021 JAN210498 2A (A/CA) Burcham"
TRANSFORMERS BEAST ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Transformers LAST BOT STANDING #4 Cvr B IDW Comics 2022 JUN221674 4B (CA) Zama"
Transformers LAST ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Transformers Wreckers TREAD & CIRCUITS #1 RI 1:10 IDW Comics 2021 AUG210539 1RI"
Transformers Wreck ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "TRANSFORMERS #2 2nd ptg Cvr C Cliffjumper Image Comics 2023 1123IM825 (CA)Howard"
TRANSFORMERS #2 2n ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "THE TRANSFORMERS #36 Marvel Comics 1988 (W) Budiansky (CA) Springer 231222S"
NEW!
THE TRANSFORMERS # ...
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
Find the items above and thousands more at the Seibertron Store on eBay
Transformers Podcast: Twincast / Podcast #347 - Swooped In
Twincast / Podcast #347:
"Swooped In"
MP3 · iTunes · RSS · View · Discuss · Ask
Posted: Saturday, April 6th, 2024

Featured Products on Amazon.com

These are affiliate links. We may earn commissions when you purchase items or services through these links.
Buy "Transformers Combiner Wars Blast Off Megatronus Prime Master" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers: Generations Power of The Primes Solus Prime Prime Master" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Power of The Primes Voyager Class Elita-1" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Studio Series 09 Voyager Class Movie 2 Thundercracker" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Studio Series 13 Voyager Class Movie 2 Megatron" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Power of The Primes Deluxe Class Autobot Moonracer" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Power of The Primes Evolution Nemesis Prime (Amazon Exclusive)" on AMAZON
Buy "Cyberverse Warrior Class Windblade" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Leader Powermaster Optimus Prime Action Figure (Discontinued by manufacturer)" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers: The Last Knight Premier Edition Leader Dragonstorm Combiner" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Titans Return Titan Master Apeface" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Deluxe Class Brawl" on AMAZON