Chris Ayres, a voice actor best known for his work as Dragon Ball's Frieza, has passed away at the age of 56.
Ayres's girlfriend and fellow voice actor Krystal Laporte shared the news on Twitter, issuing an emotional statement and sharing photos of her and Chris together. She revealed that he passed away earlier this week, following a four-year battle with cardiac obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Chris Owen Ayres passed away peacefully, held close by his brother, mother, and girlfriend, and his arm wrapped around his Atticus pillow,” Laporte wrote on Twitter. She also shared that Ayre𝐆s loved all of his fans, and their support since he was first diagnosed with his illness in 2017, whic๊h he was incredibly open about, “kept him going longer than any normal person could go”.
Ayres had been lending his voice to the anime world for almost 20 years. However, Dragon Ball fans will instantly recognize Ayres as the voice of Frieza. Ayres debuted as Frieza in Dragon Ball Z Kai back in 2010. He would go on to voice the iconic villain in Dragon Ball Super, two Dragon Ball movies, and a number of Drജagon Ball ꦍgames starting in 2010 and ending in 2018.
Other than his work as Frieza in Dragon Ball, Ayres has voiced characters from other anime, including Black Butler, Tears To Tiara, and Maburaho, among others. Tributes to the actor have been pouring in ever since news of his death was revealed on social media. Funimation 𒅌thanked Ayres for all of his work, while Sean Schemmel, who voices Goku, also shared a heartfelt tribute to his friend.
A new Dragon Ball movie, Dragon Ball Su🗹per: Sup✅erhero, is slated to release sometime in 2022. Very little has been revealed in𒐪 regards to who will be voicing its characters. So far, only the actors providing the Japanese voices of Vegeta and Goku have been confirmed.
Our thoughts go out to Ayres' girlfriend, family, friends, and the rest of his fans at this time.