Paul Haddad (May 20, 1963 – April 11, 2020) was a Canadian actor. He was the original voice actor of Leon S. Kennedy in the Resident Evil franchise, voicing the character in Resident Evil 2 (1998). Other voice over roles included Uncle Arthur in Babar (1989–1991), Quicksilver and Arkon in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1996), Luke Talbot in Monster Force (1994), the title character in Free Willy (1994–1995), and Lefty in John Callahan's Quads! (2000–2002).
Early life Haddad was born in Birmingham, England on May 20, 1963. He was the eldest of three children. Haddad attended McGill University, where he studied acting. In 1988, he graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada, in Montreal, Quebec.
Career Haddad performed in the Stratford Theatre Festival in Stratford, Ontario for two years. In the 1996 festival, he played Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.
Haddad voiced Uncle Arthur in Babar (1989–1991) and Shrimplips in Medabots (2001–2002).
Haddad's voice roles include Quads, Mythic Warriors, Cyberchase, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Little Bear, The Magic School Bus, RoboRoach, Pearlie, Franny's Feet, The Adventures of Tintin and Rupert.
In 1995, Haddad played Gerald Schulze, Edward Schulze's (Matt Frewer) brother who runs the local market in the DisneyToon Studios animated comedy film BugHunt.
He voiced Willy Stop in the animated series Rescue Heroes.
Haddad was best known for voicing Leon S. Kennedy in the video game Resident Evil 2. Due to the popularity of his voice work in Resident Evil 2, Haddad was asked to voice a character in the similarly themed Daymare: 1998. Haddad's role in Resident Evil 2 led to him becoming an "icon" among the game's fanbase according to Gamasutra.
Personal life and death Haddad resided in Toronto, Ontario until his death. His hobbies included film editing (often with videos of his dog) and assisting with actor demos. He revealed during a YouTube livestream he had stage three throat cancer and had a tumor growing on one of his vocal cords; however, the tumor was surgically removed, altering his voice in the process.
In February 2020, Haddad set up a GoFundMe requesting $2,000 for his third neurosurgery. He detailed his personal and financial struggles in a complementing Facebook post, which revealed he had obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) for most of his life. Although Haddad had been managing the disorder through a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device, the device was removed in 2019 due to an infection, causing his battle with OCD to resume.
Two months after creating the fundraiser, Haddad died on April 11, 2020, at the age of 56. The cause of death was not publicly disclosed.
Filmography Film YearTitleRole Notes 1987 Tomorrow's a Killer Lover 1995 BugHunt Gerald Schulze (voice) 1996 An Angel for Christmas Additional Voices (voice) Direct-to-video 1999 Babar: King of the Elephants Elevator Boy, Tailor (voices) 2000 Franklin and the Green Knight: The Movie Mr. Fox (voice) Direct-to-video 2002 Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun Willy Jollie (voice) Direct-to-video 2003 Back to School with Franklin Mr. Fox (voice) Direct-to-video 2003 Rolie Polie Olie: The Baby Bot Chase Gloomius Maximus, Wally Jolly (voices) Direct-to-videoReplacing James Woods 2004 Childstar Wedge Executive
Television YearTitleRole Notes 1986 Night Heat Julian Tobias Episode: "Fighting Back" 1987 American Playhouse The Triumphant Egghead Episode: "The Prodigious Hickey" 1989–1991 Babar Uncle Arthur (voice) 39 episodes 1990 The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Additional Voices (voice) 26 episodes 1991 MacGyver Nikolai Rostov Episode: "Jerico Games" 1992–1996 X-Men Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Arkon, Kiyoek, Various (voices) 17 episodes 1993 E.N.G. Roger Quigley Episode: "Love and Marriage" 1994 Free Willy Willy the Orca (voice) 21 episodes 1996 Any Mother's Son John Miller TV film 1998–2000 Flying Rhino Junior High Buford, Mr. Needlenose (voices) 26 episodes 1999 Mythic Warriors Theseus, Fisherman (voices) Episode: "Theseus and the Minotaur"2000–2002John Callahan's Quads!Lefty (voice)26 episodes 2001–2002 Medabots Shrimplips, Calamari, Various (voices) Seasons: 1–2 2001–2002 Rescue Heroes Willy Stop (voice) Episodes: "Mayhem in the Mist" and "Blackout" 2002–2004 Rolie Polie Olie Gloomius Maximus (voice) Season 6 only 2004–2010 Franny's Feet Additional Voices (voice) 11 episodes 2009 Murdoch Mysteries Morris Bailey Episode: "Snakes and Ladders"
Video games YearTitleRole Notes 1998 Resident Evil 2 Leon S. Kennedy 2019 Daymare: 1998 Cleaner Final role
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