Japanese actor and voice actor Shuichiro Moriyama, best known as the voice of Porco Rosso in the Studio Ghibli movie Porco Rosso, passed away at a hospital in Saitama Prefecture at 9:10 pm on the 8th due to pneumonia. He was 86 years old. A private family service will be held for him.
Moriyama was born on July 26, 1934 in Nagoya. His real name was Hiroo Ōtsuka. He had a long and diverse career as both an actor and a voice actor. As an actor, he has appeared in NHK’s serial TV novel Yell and the historical drama Tokugawa Yoshinobu. He also played a wide range of roles, including the role of Porco Rosso, the main character of the 2004 Ghibli movie Porco Rosso, dubbing movies and television shows like On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Prison Break, and Kojak, and narrating the TV Asahi drama Trick.
Some of his other notable voice acting roles include Old Partisan in Adieu Galaxy Express 999, Aoba Baseball Director in Captain, the narrator in Jormungand, and Sakaki Hyobu in Ninja Scroll. In addition, he also lent his voice to video game series like Kingdom Hearts (as Flotsam and Jetsam), Final Fantasy Type-O (as Cid Aulstyne), and Inazuma Eleven (as Hibiki Seigou).
The news was posted on his Twitter account by his agency, who mentioned that, “We would like to thank all the fans and related parties for their great support during the 63 years of the performing arts life. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude and inform you.”
