Professor Oak voice actor retires due to cancer
"It is a timely decision as the series transitions to new characters and storylines."
James Carter Cathcart, a long-time voice actor for the Pokémon anime series, has announced his retirement from script adapting and voice dubbing for Pokémon USA due to throat cancer.
Cathcart is known for voicing Professor Oak and his grandson Gary, as well as Team Rocket's James and Meowth, since the first episode of Pokémon the Series. His other credits include providing the voice of Vector the Crocodile in 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog.
In a blog post earlier this week, Cathcart's wife Martha made the announcement after revealing Cathcart's tumours weren't responding to initial chemotherapy "as much as was anticipated".
Cathcart was diagnosed with throat cancer in January this year, which started from his tongue and spread to some of his lymph nodes in his neck. He is set to begin a new treatment plan at the beginning of May, which will consist of simultaneous radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
His retirement from Pokémon USA will begin at the conclusion of series 25, which will bid farewell to long-serving protagonist Ash Ketchum. "He has been with the series since the first episode," Martha wrote on Cathcart's blog, "so it is a timely decision as the series transitions to new characters and storylines."
The first episode of the new series has already aired in Japan, where we got a look at new protagonists Liko and Roy, as well as a new baby turtle species.