According to Comicbook, the voice actor of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’s Splinter, Peter Renaday (Shrek, Princess And The Frog), died at 89 on September 8, 2024. Renaday started his career in 1961 as an actor for film and television such as General Hospital and The Aristocrats.
When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted in 1980’s, Renaday became well-known, being cast as the voice of Hamato Yoshi, also known as Splinter, in the original series from 1987 to 1996. The original voice of Michaelangelo, Townsend Coleman (Where’s Wally, The Tick), spoke about Renaday in an X post below on September 10 to honor his life.
Other works of Renaday include Animaniacs, Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series, Transformers and Superman: The Animated Series. In 2011, his final voice acting performance was in the animation Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Assassin’s Creed Revelations as Sir George.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for the work of Renaday and his voice as the fan favorite Splinter. The cast members of the original cartoon were under the management of Peter Laird (TMNT, Turtles Forever) and Kevin Eastman (Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT). However, Fred Wolf Films took the reins of the show. The debut was in 1987 to an outstanding pilot. Through the 90s, TMNT was an authentic and fresh cultural reset. The show was originally based on a comic book series of four turtles and a rat who studied martial arts after being splattered with mysterious ooze. After the show was released, a movie trilogy in the ’90s, five additional TV shows and seven movies in the 2000s were made public. To this day, fans prefer watching the first installment of the comic book to the later released ones.
Through Renaday’s voice acting talent, fans were drawn to his character, and to this day, millions of children and adults love the show and the beloved mentor, Splinter.
Renaday was found in his Burbank, California home, where he died of natural causes.