Voice actor Ichiro Nagai dies at age 82

Voice actor Ichiro Nagai (82) was found unconscious in his hotel room in Hiroshima on January 27th and his death was confirmed today.

According to the Hiroshima Police Department, on January 27th, a Hiroshima hotel employee found an unconscious Mr. Nagai in the bathroom of his hotel room and dialed 119 (Japanese emergency services). He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital but his death was confirmed not long afterwards. He had checked in on the 26th after some work in RCC Broadcasting and was supposed to check out on the 27th. He had no noticeable injuries. According to his managing agency, the cause of death was heart failure. His funeral is yet to be scheduled.

Mr. Nagai was born in Oosaka and graduated in Literature at Kyoto University. He voiced anime characters like Konakijiji in “Gegege no Kitaro”, Namihei in the long running show “Sazae-san” and Happosai in “Ranma 1/2”. He worked in dubbing as the voice of Yoda in the Star Wars series and Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series.
His tokusatsu roles include Baseball Mask in “Himitsu Sentai Goranger” and “Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger The Movie: The Flying Ghostship” and Master Xia Fu in “Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger”.

His variety of voice acting, dubbing and narration roles made him popular among all age groups.

Source: http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20140128k0000m040040000c.html