‘One Piece’, ‘Dragon Ball’ voice actor Mike McFarland dies at 56
American voice actor, writer and director Mike McFarland, best known for voicing Buggy the Clown in “One Piece” and Master Roshi in “Dragon Ball”, died on September 9. He was 56.
McFarland died after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2025, according to Anime News Network.
McFarland was one of the early and influential figures in Texas-based anime production. He began his career with Funimation and later continued his work with Crunchyroll following the companies’ merger.
“Mike brought so much to all of us who knew him, and to all of the anime fans that knew his work. He was an incredible talent, a good friend to so many of us, and will be sorely, sorely missed,” Crunchyroll said in a statement to Deadline.
McFarland voiced Buggy the Clown in “One Piece” from 2007 until his death. He also voiced Master Roshi and Yajirobe in “Dragon Ball” and “Dragon Ball Z”. His other notable roles included Jean Kirstein in “Attack on Titan”, Jean Havoc in “Fullmetal Alchemist” and Teppei Sugo in “Psycho-Pass”.
He also voiced Makoto Hyuga in the “Evangelion” film series, Sky Master in “Heaven’s Lost Property”, Goemon Ishikawa in “Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine” and George in “Case Closed”. His more recent credits included Hiroshi Odokawa in “Odd Taxi”, Big Bad Wolf in “Date A Live IV” and E G Mine in “Trigun Stampede”.
Alongside voice acting, McFarland worked as a script writer, director and line producer, leaving a lasting contribution to the English-language anime industry.
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