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Voice Actor/Radio Personality Genzo Wakayama Passes Away
posted on by Egan Loo
Voice actor, actor, and radio personality Genzō Wakayama passed away due To Heart failure in his Tokyo home on May 18. He was 88. His family held private funeral and memorial services, and there are no plans for a public memorial gathering.
Renowned for his low, refined vocal register, Wakayama dubbed the late Sean Connery's roles, including his James Bond films, into Japanese since 1976. He also dubbed Peter Graves as the Impossible Mission Force leader Jim Phelps from the Mission: Impossible television series.
Wakayama lended his voice to the Captain (John Silver) in two anime versions of Treasure Island: Osamu Tezuka and Mushi Production's 1965 New Treasure Island television special and Osamu Dezaki and TMS Entertainment's Treasure Island television series. He also voiced Scoppero in Hayao Miyazaki's Ghibli Museum short "The Day I Bought a Star." In games, he played Ansem the Wise in the Kingdom Hearts franchise since 2005.
In addition, Wakayama served as the host of TBS Radio's weekday afternoon news and talk show Otsukaresama 5-Ji Desu and its successor Wakayama Genzō no Tokyo Dial 954 for 22 years.
Sources: Nikkan Sports via Hachima Kikō, Asahi Shimbun
