Mike McFarland, beloved anime voice actor, dies at 56 from cancer

Mike McFarland, the voice actor behind the English dubs of many iconic anime, including Dragon Ball franchise, Full Metal Alchemist, and One Piece, has passed away at age 56.

McFarland died on Wednesday, September 9, after a year-long battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2025, according to Anime News Network.

The Texas-based anime veteran was also a writer, director and line producer who helped shape English-language anime production through his work with Funimation and, later, Crunchyroll.

“Mike Farland brought so much to all of us who knew him, and to all of the anime fans that knew his work. He was an incredible talent, a good friend to so many of us, and will be sorely, sorely missed,” Crunchyroll said in a statement.

McFarland’s voice has helped shape decades of anime. He was best known for playing Master Yoshi and Yajirobe in Fumigation’s dubs of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, as well as voicing Buggy the Clown in One Piece.

His other notable roles include Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist, Jean Kirsten in Attack on Titan, Teppei Sugo in Psycho-Pass, Makoto Hyuga in the Evangelion films and Goemon Ishikawa in Lupin III.

According to his longtime co-star Sonny Strait, McFarland’s path into the industry was through his improv comedy troupe called Section 8. Strait — who voiced Krillin and Bardock in the Dragon Ball franchise, Usopp in One Piece, and Maes Hughes in Fullmetal Alchemist — further noted in his tribute that McFarland was also a puppeteer.

In January 2025, McFarland had to pull out of the Central Florida Comic Con due to an illness, which was later revealed to be a brain tumour. He immediately underwent surgery, but by March, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma.