Rick May facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rick May
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Rick May
September 21, 1940 Canada
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| Died | April 8, 2020 (aged 79) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
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| Alma mater | St. Olaf College |
| Occupation | Voice actor, teacher, theatre actor |
Rick May (born September 21, 1940 – died April 8, 2020) was a talented Canadian-American voice actor, stage performer, director, and teacher. He was well-known for giving life to many video game characters. These included Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64, the Soldier in Team Fortress 2, and Dr. M in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Rick May also played Inspector Lestrade in the popular radio show The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for many years.
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Rick May's Early Life
Rick May was born on September 21, 1940. He grew up in both Washington State in the U.S. and in Canada. For his education, he went to Roosevelt High School in Seattle. Later, he attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, graduating in 1962.
Rick May's Career Journey
Rick May served in the U.S. military. During his time in Japan, he helped organize shows for the USO in Tokyo. These shows entertain military members and their families.
After his military service, Rick May came back to the Seattle area. He became the director of the Renton Civic Theatre and Civic Light Opera in Renton, Washington. In one play called Cotton Patch Gospel, he showed his amazing talent by playing all 21 different characters, each with a unique voice! In 2001, he left the Renton Civic Theatre to start his own theater company in Kirkland, Washington. This allowed him to become a full-time actor.
Voice Acting in Video Games
In the late 1990s, Rick May started his career in voice acting for video games. Some of his most famous roles include:
- Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64
- Various characters, like Genghis Khan, in Age of Empires II
- The iconic Soldier in Team Fortress 2
- Dr. M in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
Radio Work
From 1998 until 2020, Rick May played Inspector Lestrade in the Imagination Theatre radio series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He also played Lestrade in another related radio series called The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Rick May also voiced many other characters in different Imagination Theatre radio dramas. He played Inspector Lestrade longer than any other actor in radio history!
Remembering Rick May
In February 2020, Rick May had a stroke and was moved to a nursing home for recovery. Sadly, on April 8, 2020, it was announced that he had passed away. His death was due to problems related to COVID-19 at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.
Tributes in Team Fortress 2
On May 1, 2020, Valve, the company that made Team Fortress 2, released a special update. This update honored Rick May's voice work as the Soldier.
- The game's main menu music changed to a song called "Saluting The Fallen," which is a version of "Taps".
- The main menu picture was locked to show only the Soldier character.
- Statues of the Soldier saluting were added to most of the official maps in the game. These statues had a special plaque remembering Rick May. They stayed in the maps until June 1.
- The statues appeared again in the same places on April 12, 2021, and 2022. When players got close to these statues, they would hear some of the Soldier's famous voice lines.
- On August 21, 2020, a permanent memorial was placed in the game. It's a Soldier statue with heads on a fence in front of it, located on the "Granary" map. This map is where the Team Fortress 2 video "Meet the Soldier" takes place.
Rick May's Acting Roles
Rick May had a long and varied acting career.
Theater Roles
He performed in many plays, taking on various characters such as:
- 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
Voice-Over Roles
His voice-over work includes:
- Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64
- Dr. M in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
- The Soldier in Team Fortress 2
- Genghis Khan in Age of Empires II
Film Appearances
Rick May also appeared in some films:
- American Graffiti (1973) as Boy in the Car
- Frances (1982) as Policeman
- The Chocolate War (1988) as Doctor
- Child in the Night (1990, TV Movie) as Captain Hook
Images for kids
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A photo of Rick May.
See also
In Spanish: Rick May para niños
