Voice actor Paul Haddad, who played Leon Kennedy in the original Resident Evil 2 in 1998, has passed away aged 56.
Haddad voiced the original version of Leon Kennedy, and was for many the definitive version of the character. His voice acting career included many other credits, including Quicksilver in the 90's X-Men animated series, the Wolfman in Monster Force, and Willy in the Free Willy series. He has also provided voices for series such as The Adventures of Tintin, Rupert, and Barbar.
Haddad had recently worked on the video game Daymare: 1998 from Invader Studios, a third-person survival horror game that's influenced by Resident Evil, and hopes to recreate the mood of the original games. Invader Studios confirmed his passing in a recent Twitter post, where they shared a small tribute to him.
Nick Apostolides, who voiced Leon in the recent Resident Evil 2 Remake released an emotional video on his social media shortly after hearing the news of Paul's passing, where he talked about his friendship with the man who was his introduction to the world of Resident Evil.
The exact details surrounding Haddad's passing are still unclear, however, he had been sick for a while, battling throat cancer and a neurological disorder. He had a GoFundMe set up to help assist with his health bills, and was scheduled to receive neurosurgery, though this was delayed due to the current pandemic health crisis.
Despite having played the original Resident Evil first, Resident Evil 2 was the first game in the series I completed, and the first that I spent any real time on during the early years of the franchise. Leon Kennedy was a character that stood out, even amongst other great heroes in the Resident Evil series. Whilst Leon would go on to become even more popular over the coming years, espeically thanks to Resident Evil 4, I'm sure that many will agree with me that it was Resident Evil 2 and Paul's performance in that role that made the character iconic for us.
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