Professor Oak's voice actor, James Carter Cathcart, has died

A prolific voice actor behind Pokémon's Professor Oak and many other classic animated characters has passed away. James Carter Cathcart, who was best known for his voice acting work in animation and video games, died of throat cancer at 71, Variety reports.

The actor, who was frequently credited as "Jimmy Zoppi" and "Carter Cathcart" throughout his career, played a variety of Pokémon's most memorable supporting characters. Alongside Professor Oak, Cathcart voiced his grandson Gary Oak and Team Rocket's Meowth and James across over 700 episodes of the animated series and 15 movies. That includes Pokémon: The First Movie, Cathcart's first feature film credit. His work wasn't exclusive to animation, either. Cathcart also voiced Vector the Crocodile in the game Shadow the Hedgehog, and provided voices for multiple Pokémon that appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Beyond voice acting, Cathcart was a talented musician and writer. He's credited with writing and adapting multiple English-language versions of Pokémon TV movies. After 25 years in the entertainment industry, Cathcart decided to retire from voice acting in 2023 due to his cancer diagnosis, Kotaku writes. The voice actor was in hospice care in Forest Hills, New York when he died. He's survived by his wife, Martha Jacobi, and a body of work that touches everything from One Piece to candy bar commercials.