Garry Chalk

Garry Glen Chalk (born February 17, 1952) is a British-born Canadian actor and voice actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of Beast Wars and Beast Machines, as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, and Transformers: Cybertron, and also was the third American voice of Dr. Robotnik for Sonic Underground. He has lent his voice to over 30 animated television series and has been in films such as The Fly II, Godzilla and Freddy vs. Jason. He played the recurring role of Col. Chekov on Stargate SG-1.

Life and Career
Chalk was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England on February 17, 1952 and, at the age of 5, he moved with his family to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 17, 1957. Initially wanting to become a teacher, a college play he saw made him want to pursue an acting career. He received his acting training at Studio 58.

Chalk has been involved with professional theatre since 1978, and has performed at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company (VPTC), the Arts Club Theatre Company (ACTC), The Vancouver Theatresports League and numerous theatres in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. The last live stage production he did was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, where he played Miles Gloriosus. He also performed in Henry IV and As You Like It at the VPTC, as well as Dracula and Passion at the ACTC.

Most of his career has been in film and television; he had a recurring role on Cold Squad for four years, for which he won Gemini Awards in two consecutive years, and until the close of its ninth season had a recurring role on the science-fiction series Stargate SG-1. He is also a veteran of over 1,500 animated productions including Class of the Titans, and the 2002 remake of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He is also known for his voice work in the Transformers franchise as the voice of Optimus Primal in Beast Wars and Beast Machines, and as Optimus Prime in the Unicron Trilogy. He also voiced the original Megatron in an episode of Beast Wars.

In the 2000s, he appeared occasionally in the Sci-Fi Channel shows Eureka, as Col. Briggs and Painkiller Jane, as Ruben Hennessey.

Anime

 * Transformers: Armada (2002-2003) - Optimus Prime

Anime Films

 * Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986) - King Gurumes (BLT Dub)

Trivia

 * Has been involved in two cartoons that were either spin offs or remakes of an earlier series. He provided the voice of He-Man in "The New Adventures of He-Man" and later provided the voice of Man-At-Arms in the 2002 version of "He-Man & The Masters of the Universe". He also provided the voice of Optimus Primal on Beast Wars: Transformers and later voiced Optimus Prime on Transformers Armada.
 * Unlike John Erwin and Cam Clarke, who provided the voices of both He-Man and Prince Adam i (Erwin in the 1983 Filmation series and Clarke in the 2002 Mike Young Productions series), Chalk only provided the voice of He-Man, while a different actor, Doug Parker, provided the voice of Prince Adam.
 * Emigrated to Canada in June 1957.
 * Originally auditioned for the role of Megatron evil leader of the Predacons when he was approached for Beast Wars: Transformers (1996) while David Kaye, who ultimately played Megatron, auditioned for Optimus Primal heroic leader of the Maximals, which went to Chalk. Ironically Chalk would play the original Decepticon Megatron in a season 2 episode of Beast Wars while Kaye later voiced Optimus Prime on Transformers Animated (2007).
 * Like most of the Beast Wars voice actors who returned for the sequel Beast Machines, Chalk strongly disliked how his character, Optimus Primal, was rewritten as a religious fanatic and, according to co-star Scott McNeil, would often flip out in anger between recording sessions.