Nostalgic fans are heartbroken by the news (pic: Twitter)

Brendan O’Brien voiced not just Crash Bandicoot but several of his villains in the Naughty Dog era of PlayStation 1 games.

Long time fans of the Crash Bandicoot games are in mourning at the moment, as they have recently learned of the death of one of its original voice actors, Brendan O’Brien.

Both of O’Brien’s parents were actors and he primarily worked for movies and TV shows, but he was perhaps best known for being the voice behind Crash Bandicoot.

He may never have spoken full sentences, but he provided all of Crash’s various yelps and screams (including the now memetic ‘woah!’) which many fans still remember dearly.

It wasn’t just Crash either. He did the voices of several of the series’ villains as well, including Tiny Tiger and N. Gin. He even voiced main antagonist Dr Cortex, at least for the first game.

Aside from the original trilogy of PlayStation 1 games, O’Brien worked on the kart racer Crash Team Racing, party game Crash Bash, and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex (the first post-Naughty Dog mainline entry).

Just heard about the passing of Brendan OâBrien, original Crash Bandicoot voice actor.

Itâs a huge shock; Iâd been a fan of Brendanâs for years, and recently he and I had been talking about having a role in Antonblast, too.

Absolutely gutted and blindsided..RIP, man.

1962-2023 pic.twitter.com/DDX2Kxfw82

— tony grayson ð¥ (@graysonZ80) May 14, 2023

He took a hiatus from acting in 2004 but did pop up in an episode of Riverdale as a maths teacher in 2020.

His voice lines for Crash were re-used for a handful of Game Boy Advance games but he was eventually replaced by Jess Harnell in 2005, who voiced Crash for the next 14 years of games.

The current voice of Crash is Scott Whyte, who took over with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.

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O’Brien actually died a couple of months ago on March 23, at the age of 60, altthough fans only just found out after someone came across and shared his obituary.

‘One of [Brendan’s] proudest moments was coming up with the original voices for the Crash Bandicoot video games during the Naughty Dog years of 1996 to 2004,’ it reads.

‘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.’

Devastated to hear about the passing of Brendan O’Brien. Crash 1 was the first game I ever played. His scream on the title screen and the “WOAH!” is forever burned into my brain. The opening cutscene where he did all the voices was amazing to me as a little kid. Rest in Peace. pic.twitter.com/gwbt4lyfTi

— Janey Poodle ð© (@bitsofjam) May 14, 2023

Thereâs always a sense of emptiness when you hear about someone whose voice was immensely ingrained into your childhood, be reported as dead. Itâs even more hollow when it comes up 2 months later. Almost unnoticed and undetected. Brendan OâBrienâs passing is very upsetting + pic.twitter.com/AZuBfuf4og

— SammieBee VA (@KlausHoward) May 15, 2023

Just found out about the passing of Brendan O’Brien in March of this year.

Brendan was the original voice actor for Crash Bandicoot, Dr. Neo Cortex, Dr. N. Gin, Dr. N. Brio, Pinstripe, and more, in the original Crash games.

Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/jVeer65Tky

— JB Longð¥ (@jumpbuttoncb) May 14, 2023

Today is a sad day for Crash Bandicoot fans. On March 23, 2023, voice of the titular character, Brendan O’Brien, had passed away. My condolences goes out to his friends and family. pic.twitter.com/RBr4kHfu01

— Crimson Mayhem (@Crimson_Mayhem_) May 14, 2023

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Brendan O’Brien voiced not just Crash Bandicoot but several of his villains in the Naughty Dog era of PlayStation 1 games.