Rick May facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rick May
May in 2017
Born	Richard James May (1940-09-21)September 21, 1940 Bassano, Alberta, Canada
Died	April 5, 2020(2020-04-05) (aged 79) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	St. Olaf College
Occupation	Actor voice actor theatrical performer director teacher
Years active	1973–2020

Richard James May (born September 21, 1940 – died April 5, 2020) was a talented actor, director, and teacher from Canada and the United States. He was best known for lending his voice to many popular video game characters. You might recognize his voice as Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64, the brave Soldier in Team Fortress 2, and Dr. M in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Rick May also brought to life Inspector Lestrade in the long-running radio series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for many years.

Early Life and Education

Rick May was born on September 21, 1940. He grew up in both Washington State in the U.S. and in Canada. He went to Roosevelt High School in Seattle. Later, he studied at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Rick May started acting when he was in high school in 1957. His very first performance was at a school event. He became a U.S. citizen in 1960.

Early Career and Directing

Rick May served in the U.S. military. During his time in Japan, he helped organize entertainment shows for soldiers in Tokyo. After his military service, he came back to the Seattle area. There, he became the director for the Renton Civic Theatre and Civic Light Opera in Renton, Washington. He was very talented! In one play called Cotton Patch Gospel, Rick May amazingly performed all 21 different characters using many voices. In 2002, he left the Renton Civic Theatre to start his own theater company in Kirkland, Washington. This allowed him to focus on acting full-time.

Famous Voices in Video Games

Rick May started lending his voice to video games in the late 1990s. He voiced several memorable characters. Gamers know him as Peppy Hare and the villain Andross in the classic game Star Fox 64. He also voiced different characters in Age of Empires II, including Genghis Khan. One of his most famous roles was the tough but funny Soldier in Team Fortress 2.

Bringing Characters to Life on Radio

Rick May was also a big star in radio shows. From 1998 until 2020, he played the character of Inspector Lestrade. This was in the popular Imagination Theatre radio series called The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He also voiced Lestrade in another series, The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Rick May even played many other characters in different Imagination Theatre radio dramas. He played Inspector Lestrade for a very long time, longer than any other actor in radio history!

Remembering Rick May

In February 2020, Rick May faced a serious health issue. He then went to a special place to recover and get better. Sadly, he passed away due to health complications on April 5, 2020, in Seattle. He was laid to rest at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent on June 12, 2020.

Tributes from the Gaming Community

The gaming world, especially fans of Team Fortress 2, honored Rick May. On May 1, 2020, Valve, the creators of the game, released a special update. This update added a new main menu song called "Saluting The Fallen" and showed the Soldier character on the menu. The game also added statues of the Soldier saluting on many maps. These statues had a special plaque remembering Rick May. They appeared every year between April 12th and 14th, around the time of his passing. When players got close to these statues, they would hear some of the Soldier's famous voice lines. A permanent memorial, a statue of the Soldier, was also placed on the "Granary" map on August 21, 2020. This map is famous from the "Meet the Soldier" video.

Community Remembrances

Players of Team Fortress 2 also created their own ways to remember Rick May. In many game servers, players stopped fighting to honor him. They would play special in-game actions and voice lines. Some even performed salutes on the 2Fort map. Many fans also created amazing animated videos using Source Filmmaker to celebrate his life and work. Valve released the final Team Fortress 2 comic, which was dedicated to Rick May, on December 20, 2024.

Rick May's Works

Rick May had a diverse career, bringing many characters to life.

Voice Roles in Video Games

His amazing voice-over work in video games includes:

Memorable Theater Performances

Rick May also performed in many plays throughout his career. Some of his notable roles include:

• Brutus in Julius Caesar
• Benjamin Franklin in 1776
• Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof
• Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
• Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion
• Theodore Roosevelt in Bully!
• King Henry II in The Lion in Winter
• Inspector Lestrade on radio in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

See also

In Spanish: Rick May para niños