Paul Haddad (May 20, 1963 – April 11, 2020) was a Canadian actor. He was the original voice actor of Leon S. Kennedy in the Resident Evil franchise, voicing the character in Resident Evil 2 (1998). Other voice over roles included Uncle Arthur on Babar (1989–1991), Quicksilver and Arkon on X-Men (1992–1996), Luke Talbot on Monster Force (1994), the title character on Free Willy (1994–1995), and Lefty on John Callahan's Quads! (2000–2002).
Paul Haddad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 20, 1963 Birmingham, England, UK |
| Died | April 11, 2020 (aged 56) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | McGill University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1986–2009, 2019 |
Early life
editHaddad was born in Birmingham, England on May 20, 1963. He was the eldest of three children. Haddad attended McGill University, where he studied acting. In 1988, he graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada, in Montreal, Quebec.
Career
editHaddad performed in the Stratford Theatre Festival in Stratford, Ontario for two years.[1] In the 1996 festival, he played Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.[2]
Haddad voiced Uncle Arthur on Babar (1989–1991) and Shrimplips on Medabots (2001–2002).
Haddad's voice roles include Quads, Mythic Warriors, Cyberchase, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Little Bear, The Magic School Bus, RoboRoach, Pearlie, Franny's Feet, The Adventures of Tintin and Rupert.
In 1995, Haddad played Gerald Schulze, Edward Schulze's (Matt Frewer) brother who runs the local market in the DisneyToon Studios animated comedy film BugHunt.
He voiced Willy Stop in the animated series Rescue Heroes.
Haddad was best known for voicing Leon S. Kennedy in the video game Resident Evil 2. Due to the popularity of his voice work in Resident Evil 2, Haddad was asked to voice a character in the similarly themed Daymare: 1998.[3] Haddad's role in Resident Evil 2 led to him becoming an "icon" among the game's fanbase according to Gamasutra.[4]
Personal life and death
editHaddad resided in Toronto, Ontario until his death. His hobbies included film editing (often with videos of his dog) and assisting with actor demos. He revealed during a YouTube livestream he had stage three throat cancer and had a tumor growing on one of his vocal cords; however, the tumor was surgically removed, altering his voice in the process.
In February 2020, Haddad set up a GoFundMe requesting $2,000 for his third neurosurgery. He detailed his personal and financial struggles in a complementing Facebook post, which revealed he had obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) for most of his life. Although Haddad had been managing the disorder through a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device, the device was removed in 2019 due to an infection, causing his battle with OCD to resume.[5]
Two months after creating the fundraiser, Haddad died on April 11, 2020, at the age of 56. The cause of death was not publicly disclosed.[6]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Tomorrow's a Killer | Lover | |
| 1995 | BugHunt | Gerald Schulze (voice) | |
| 1996 | An Angel for Christmas | Additional Voices (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 1999 | Babar: King of the Elephants | Elevator Boy, Tailor (voices)[7] | |
| 2000 | Franklin and the Green Knight: The Movie | Mr. Fox (voice)[7] | Direct-to-video |
| 2002 | Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun | Willy Jollie (voice)[7] | Direct-to-video |
| 2003 | Back to School with Franklin | Mr. Fox (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2003 | Rolie Polie Olie: The Baby Bot Chase | Gloomius Maximus, Wally Jolly (voices)[7] | Direct-to-video Replacing James Woods |
| 2004 | Childstar | Wedge Executive |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Night Heat | Julian Tobias | Episode: "Fighting Back" |
| 1987 | American Playhouse | The Triumphant Egghead | Episode: "The Prodigious Hickey" |
| 1989–1991 | Babar | Uncle Arthur (voice) | 39 episodes |
| 1990 | The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 | Additional Voices (voice) | 26 episodes |
| 1991 | MacGyver | Nikolai Rostov | Episode: "Jerico Games" |
| 1992–1996 | X-Men | Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Arkon, Kiyoek, Various (voices) | 17 episodes |
| 1993 | E.N.G. | Roger Quigley | Episode: "Love and Marriage" |
| 1994 | Free Willy | Willy the Orca (voice)[7] | 21 episodes |
| 1996 | Any Mother's Son | John Miller | TV film |
| 1998–2000 | Flying Rhino Junior High | Buford, Mr. Needlenose (voices) | 26 episodes |
| 1999 | Mythic Warriors | Theseus, Fisherman (voices)[7] | Episode: "Theseus and the Minotaur" |
| 2000–2002 | John Callahan's Quads! | Lefty (voice) | 26 episodes |
| 2001–2002 | Medabots | Shrimplips, Calamari, Various (voices) | Seasons: 1–2 |
| 2001–2002 | Rescue Heroes | Willy Stop (voice) | Episodes: "Mayhem in the Mist" and "Blackout" |
| 2002–2004 | Rolie Polie Olie | Gloomius Maximus (voice) | Season 6 only |
| 2004–2010 | Franny's Feet | Additional Voices (voice) | 11 episodes |
| 2009 | Murdoch Mysteries | Morris Bailey | Episode: "Snakes and Ladders" |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Resident Evil 2 | Leon S. Kennedy | |
| 2019 | Daymare: 1998 | Cleaner[8] | Final role |
References
edit- ^ "Paul Haddad". IMDB. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ Newell, Alex (Winter 1997). "The Stratford, Ontario, Festival 1996: A Canadian's Overview". Shakespeare Bulletin. 15 (1): 23. JSTOR 26352743.
- ^ Destructive Creations. "DAYMARE: 1998 – Paul Haddad has something to say". YouTube. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
- ^ Kerr, Chris (April 17, 2020). "Obituary: Resident Evil 2 voice actor Paul Haddad has passed away". Gamasutra. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ Keegan, October (17 April 2020). "Original Leon Voice Performer Paul Haddad Passes Away At 56". Rely on Horror. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- ^ "Paul Haddad Obituary". thestar.com. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "Paul Haddad (visual voices guide)". behindthevoiceactors.com. Retrieved 27 August 2019. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Lada, Jenni (17 April 2020). "Paul Haddad, the Original Resident Evil 2 Leon Voice Actor, Has Died". Siliconera. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
External links
edit- Paul Haddad at IMDb
- Paul Haddad at Anime News Network's encyclopedia