Brendan James O'Brien (May 9, 1962 – March 23, 2023) was an American actor. He served as the original voice of Crash Bandicoot and various other character voices for the Crash Bandicoot video games during the Naughty Dog years.
Early life Brendan James O'Brien was born in Hollywood, California, on May 9, 1962. He was the son of actor Edmond O'Brien (1915–1985) and actress Olga San Juan (1927–2009). His two sisters are television producer Bridget O'Brien Adelman and actress Maria O'Brien (1950–2026).
He attended Loyola High School in East Los Angeles where he played guitar in various high school bands throughout his early years. He was also a graduate of the Loyola Marymount University.
Career O'Brien began his acting career in 1972 at ten years old, he was discovered by director Bernard L. Kowalski who cast him in his first acting role in the first episode of the television series The Streets of San Francisco, along with his father. His other live action credits was in the television film Honor Thy Father. He also acted in 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, P.U.N.K.S., Race to Space, and Grindhouse.
He got the role of Crash Bandicoot after Joe Pearson suggested that he call Jason Rubin (who was looking for a voice artist). After going to the studio for the call (where his parents used to work), he got the role. The recordings that O'Brien did for Crash Bandicoot were done in an intimate setting at the Alfred Hitchcock Theater.
O'Brien also performed additional voices for the animated series adaptation of Spawn and Ralph Bakshi's Spicy City. He has also acted in several live action television shows such as Candid Camera and The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys.
He went on a hiatus from acting in 2003; he returned to acting sixteen years later and appear in an episode of Riverdale as a math teacher and also had a small part in the TV mini-series The Slowest Show as a Male Millionaire. He was also in talks to have a role in Antonblast, a video game partly inspired by Crash Bandicoot; however, O'Brien died before this could occur.
Personal life Brendan O'Brien met his wife Ingrid K. Behrens in 1995; they married five years later in 2000 and remained married until his death.
Death He died on March 23, 2023, at his home in California at the age of 60.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1973 Honor Thy Father Child TV movie 1989 Hollywood Chaos Guido Luini Indie film 1995 Get Street Smart: A Kid's Guide to Stranger Dangers Capricorn's Dad (voice) Short film 1996 The Legend of Galgameth Heretic 1997 Casper: A Spirited Beginning Terrified Worker Direct-to-video 1998 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain Zed 1999 P.U.N.K.S. Repo Supervisor 2000 The Trial of Old Drum Brendan TV movie Wild Grizzly Earl TV movie 2001 Race to Space Centrifuge Technician 2003 Grindhouse Father Holloway
Television Year Title Role Notes 1972 The Streets of San Francisco Kid Episode: "The Thirty-Year Pin" 1991 Candid Camera Pincushion/Self 2 episodes 1992 The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys Milkman / Award Presenter 2 episodes 1997 Spicy City Additional voices Episode: "Love Is a Download" 1997–1999 Todd MacFarlane's Spawn Additional voices 6 episodes 2020 Riverdale Math Teacher Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Four: Wicked Little Town" 2021 The Slowest Show Male Millionaire TV Mini-seriesEpisode: "Bowling Alley"; Final role
Video games Year Title Role Notes 1996 Crash Bandicoot Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Neo Cortex, Doctor Nitrus Brio 1997 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Nitrus Brio, Doctor N. Gin, Komodo Moe, Tiny Tiger 1998 Crash Bandicoot: Warped Crash Bandicoot, Tiny Tiger, Doctor N. Gin 1999 Crash Team Racing Tiny Tiger, N. Gin, Pinstripe Potoroo 2000 Crash Bash Crash Bandicoot, Tiny Tiger, Doctor Nitrus Brio, Komodo Moe, Papu Papu 2001 Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Crash Bandicoot 2002 Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure Crash Bandicoot Archive recordings (uncredited) 2003 Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced Crash Bandicoot, Fake Crash 2004 Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage Crash Bandicoot 2016 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Crash Bandicoot
Crew work Year Title Position Notes 1987 Keep on Crusin| Writer | TV seriesContributing writer |- | 1990 | Guys Next-Door | Writer | TV series shortContributing writer |- | 1994 | The Secret World of Alex Mack | Drama coach, dialogue coach | 4 episodes |- | 1997 | In Cold Sweat | Writer | VideoAs Alex Smart''' |- | 2000 | Wild Grizzly'' Composer Television film
References
External links Official site