Paul Haddad, who provided the English voice work for Leon S. Kennedy in the originalResident Evil 2,has died at the age of 56. The news came from a post released by Invader Studios, who is the developer behind theResident Evil-inspired survival horror game,Daymare 1998. Ever since his work inResident Evil 2,Haddad has been an icon among manyResident Evilfans despite him not returning to provide voice work for Leon in subsequentResident Evilgames.
As of the moment, the exact cause of Haddad’s death is unclear, but it has been reported that the 56-year-old Canadian voice actor was battling throat cancer. In a Twitter post,Invader Studiosreleased a tribute to Haddad, which read, “Paul Haddad, our dear friend, and an icon among the RE 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.”
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Of course, Haddad’s performance inResident Evil 2as Leon S. Kennedy will forever be remembered by fans of the long-standing survival horror franchise, especially since Leon is one ofResident Evil’smost popular characters. Ever sinceResident Evil 2, Leon starred in numerous sequels and CGI movies, and his last appearance was in the critically acclaimed remake ofResident Evil 2,which was released by Capcom last year.
Although Haddad is popular in the video game community as the original voice actor of the iconic Leon S. Kennedy, he only provided his voice in two video games, 1998’sResident Evil 2and 2019’sDaymare: 1998.However, outside the realm of video games, Haddad had a wonderful career as a voice actor appearing in numerous television shows and movies such as Quicksilver in the originalX-Men: The Animated Series, and other media series includingHarry Potter, Franklin, RoboRoach, Rolie Polie, Olie, Free Willy, and more.
Haddad began his career back in 1986 in the TV series Night Heat, where he played the character of Julian Tobias. Due to his strong link with Leon S. Kennedy, Haddad was interviewed by the YouTube Channel Residence of Evil during the launch ofResident Evil 2remake. However, according to Haddad’s IMDB page, it appears that the actor’s final stint was in Invader Studios’Daymare: 1998,which is his first and final work after a decade long hiatus.
