Tōru Ōhira (大平 透, Ōhira Tōru, September 24, 1929 – April 12, 2016) was a Japanese narrator and voice actor from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. He was the founder of Ōhira Production and was also attached to 81 Produce.
One of his best-known roles was the dub voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, on the series' home video releases and playing the title character Moguro Fukuzō in the original The Laughing Salesman. He was also known for his many narration roles, most notably in the Super Sentai series.
Ōhira was a very influential figure in the dubbing industry during the Shōwa period.
After graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan University Jōnan Senior High School (in which he was also the supervisor of the school's volleyball team), he went on to graduate from the Meiji University Department of Political Science and Economics. In 1954, he joined the Nippon Broadcasting System, in which he became an announcer and producer. In 1955, with the opening of the Tokyo Broadcasting System, he enlisted in its theatrical company. He left the company in 1958 to become a voice artist.
His breakthrough performance was the dubbing voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars series. He reprised this role for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and a crossover appearance in Soulcalibur IV- notable because the game was originally in Japanese, meaning that Ōhira was Vader's "original" voice in the game, unlike with the films. In addition, he was usually cast in either astringent villain roles or gag characters, such as Pete in Disney cartoons.
He was also a close friend of Kyosen Ōhashi, and the mentor of Shirō Yasutomi.
On April 12, 2016, Ōhira died from pneumonia at the age of 86. As his last will, he requested Tesshō Genda to replace him as the voice of Moguro Fukuzō.
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