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Actor and voice actor Paul Haddad has died at the age of 56. During his decades long career, Haddad performed in many different roles, and he is best known as being the voice of Leon S. Kennedy in the video game Resident Evil 2. He was also the voice of Uncle Arthur in the children’s show Babar.
His death was confirmed on April 17 by Invader Studios, saying “Paul Haddad, our dear friend and an icon among the [Resident Evil] community, has passed away recently. We’ve been truly honored to have the chance to meet and work with such a great man and a brilliant professional that he was. Rest in peace Paul. You will live forever in our hearts.”
Haddad’s cause of death has not been officially confirmed, as well as the date of his death. Comicbook.com has reported that the actor was suffering from throat cancer.
Haddad was born on May 20, 1963 in Birmingham, England. He moved to Canada and attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He also graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada. He was living in Toronto, Canada, at the time of his death.
A fan on Twitter posted a clip from Resident Evil 2, and it shows off Leon S. Kennedy, who was voiced by Haddad:
I wish I didn’t have to bring you guys this news, but recently we lost a member of the Resident Evil family. Paul Haddad, the original voice of Leon, has passed away. I found out yesterday and couldn’t believe it, I still can’t. Just some of my favorite Leon moments. 1/2
Paul Haddad Started a GoFundMe on Valentine’s Day & He Opened Up About His Health Struggles
Just over two months ago, Paul shared his health struggles with his Facebook friends, and he started a GoFundMe account to raise funds for neurosurgery. A total of $4,528 has been raised in effort.
In the Facebook post, Haddad revealed the struggles that he was facing. He said for the past eight years, he had been dealing with physical, emotional, mental and financial issues, and that he was suffering from loneliness. He said, “I thank God for the love of my Mother, Brother and Sister.”
Haddad also said that he suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and that it was the worst it had been in 30 years. He spoke about using a DBS device to treat his OCD, but it had to be removed because of an emergency. Here is the entire Facebook post:
Resident Evil Fans Have Reacted to Paul Haddad’s Death
Many Resident Evil fans took to Twitter to share their condolences and memories of Leon S. Kennedy.
One fan, Alex, tweeted:
Just received word that Paul Haddad passed away earlier this month. He was the voice actor of Leon S. Kennedy in the original Resident Evil 2. He also recently played a role in Daymare: 1998.
Rest In Peace. ❤︎
He said, “Just received word that Paul Haddad passed away earlier this month. He was the voice actor of Leon S. Kennedy in the original Resident Evil 2. He also recently played a role in Daymare: 1998. Rest In Peace.”
One fan tweeted:
Paul Haddad, the voice actor of Leon in Resident Evil 2 has passed away.
The original RE2 was the first game of the franchise I’ve played and even if i didn’t understand english in that time, I remember his voice saying “Get Down” like if it was yesterday.
Thank you Paul 🙏🏻
They said, “Paul Haddad, the voice actor of Leon in Resident Evil 2, has passed away. The original RE2 was the first game of the franchise I’ve played and even if I didn’t understand English in that time, I remember his voice saying ‘Get Down’ like if it was yesterday. Thank you Paul.”
A fan named James tweeted:
RIP PAUL HADDAD. The voice of Leon in RE2 1998. Your performance was one of the reasons Leon became one of my favourite characters of the series and helped shaped the portrayals of Leon afterwards.
“I will always remember you. Goodbye…”
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