deaths

Peter Robbins, Charlie Brown Voice Actor, Dead at 65

Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage

Peter Robbins, the voice of Charlie Brown in several iconic Peanuts specials, died last week by suicide, his family told Fox 5 San Diego. He was 65. Robbins first voiced Charlie Brown in the Charles Schulz documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown at age 9. He went on to voice the character in multiple Peanuts specials throughout the 1960s, including the beloved A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Robbins’s last appearance as Charlie Brown was in the 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which shares a title with the documentary. Robbins also appeared in TV series including Rawhide, Get Smart, and Blondie during the 1960s. His final acting role was in the sitcom My Three Sons in 1972.

More recently, Robbins pleaded guilty to making criminal threats on multiple occasions, first against an ex-girlfriend and her plastic surgeon in 2013 and then against a San Diego sheriff in 2015. Robbins had been open about his bipolar disorder diagnosis and his alcohol and drug addiction. Upon release from prison in 2019, he spoke to Fox 5 about taking his bipolar diagnosis “seriously.” “I came out of prison, and I’m a better person for it,” he said. “I’m much more humble and grateful and thankful that I lived through the experience.”

Peter Robbins, Charlie Brown Voice Actor, Dead at 65