Pokémon Voice Legend James Carter Cathcart Passes at 71 After Cancer Battle
Hold onto your mugs—this one’s bittersweet and I’ve got so many feels, I’m practically bouncing off the walls! James Carter Cathcart, the voice wizard behind your childhood’s most memorable Pokémon lines, has quietly slipped away at 71 after a grueling fight with throat cancer, TMZ reports. Diagnosed in early 2023 and facing treatments that just wouldn’t quit, he spent his final days in a Forest Hills, New York hospice, surrounded by family love and the echoes of the characters he brought to life.
Cathcart wasn’t just any voice actor—he was THE professor whispering wisdom as Professor Oak, the mischievous purr of Meowth plotting world domination, the rival swagger of Gary Oak, and the straight-up swagger of James in Team Rocket. And for all you Sonic superfans, he threw down his pipes as Vector the Crocodile in Sonic X and even voiced Shadow in the cult-favorite Shadow the Hedgehog game. Talk about range! Sources including Anime News Network give props to his versatility, and everyone from fan forums to Variety is buzzing over the news.
Back in 2023, Cathcart’s diagnosis hit hard. Initial treatments didn’t pack the punch doctors needed, so he braved aggressive chemo and braced himself for the fight. Despite health setbacks, he wrapped up his final role recording the English dub of Pokémon: Ultimate Journeys—talk about dedication! Once he hung up the mic, he officially retired, leaving a legacy of laughter and nostalgia that spans decades.
Fellow voice actor Erica Schroeder took to Twitter to remember her dear friend as “one of the most joyful, exuberant, kind-hearted and talented souls … a gentle, beautiful, playful genius … master of the pen, piano and microphone.” Seriously, if that doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, what will? Friends in the industry are already sharing stories of his spontaneous piano jams and handwritten scripts—he was the kind of multitasking marvel who could literally do it all.
Behind the curtain, Cathcart was an avid coffee lover (hey, sound familiar?), an impromptu storyteller, and a doting family man who never lost his spark even when the going got tough. His passing leaves a silence louder than a Legendary Pokémon roar, and fans worldwide are lighting up social media with tributes, fan art, and memories of the character voices that shaped their Saturday mornings.
Want to keep his spirit alive? Dig out those old VHS tapes, fire up your streaming service, and binge those classic episodes—you might just catch a Professor Oak laugh you missed or a Meowth quip that still cracks you up. Whew! I swear, I could talk about this all day, but I need another coffee—and you do, too. I swear, I could sip coffee and chatter about this for days!
Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, Anime News Network
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
