Unshô Ishizuka

Unshō Ishizuka (石塚 運昇, Ishizuka Unshō, May 16, 1951 – August 13, 2018) was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director hailing from Katsuyama, Fukui. He was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death and was famous for providing the voice of both the narrator and Professor Oak on the Japanese anime series Pokémon. In this show, he remarkably appeared in both the Japanese and English-language versions, lending his voice to characters such as Onix, Steelix, and numerous other Pokémon. Ishizuka's deep, strong voice led to him being often cast in the role of older mature male characters. He was the voice of Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop, Eugene Gallardo from Tales of Rebirth and Captain Matthews in the Xenosaga trilogy. His talent spanned multiple franchises, also playing characters in One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Naruto, Detective Conan and many more. His voice also lent life to characters performed by renowned actors Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey in Japanese dubs. On August 17, 2018, it was reported that Ishizuka died on August 13, at the age of 67 from a colon infection caused by an esophageal tumor.