Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan and One Piece Dub Actor Passes Away
From dubbing Buggy the Clown and Master Roshi to his essential role in ADR, Mike McFarland’s 30-year career inspired voice acotrs and anime fans worldwide
On Spetember 9, 2026, Mike McFarland, automated dialogue replacement (ADR) director for Crunchyroll and Funimation, and acclaimed English voice actor, has passed away at the age of 56, after over a year of struggling with brain cancer at a Dallas care facility surrounded by friends and family.
He first experienced health struggles on January 2025 as he could not attend Central Florida Comic Con.
He was later diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Since the 1990s, McFarland has taken on roles for a multitude of anime, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Attack on Titan and One Punch Man, notably being the voice of Master Roshi (Dragon Ball), Buggy the Clown (One Piece), Lieutenant Jean Havoc (Fullmetal Alchemist), Jean Kirstein (Attack on Titan), Gordon Agrippa (Black Clover), Kotaro Amon (Tokyo Ghoul) and plenty more.
He has also done work as an ADR director and scriptwriter, as well as a line producer.
Many of his friends, including Matthew Mercer and J. Michael Tatum, fellow voice actors in One Piece and Attack on Titan, have shared their tributes.
He has also helped build the careers of various newcomers, including Vtuber and voice actress Amanda Lee, who wrote on Twitter:
“Mike McFarland was the first director to cast me in my lower register voice. I had never utilized it before but he saw my range before even I did and helped me so much in the beginning of my voice acting career. I’ll forever cherish the memories.”
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