Legendary voice actor Doc Harris, the narrator of Dragon Ball Z, passed away last month after undergoing minor surgery.
Doc Harris, Gilbert Auchinleck, was born on August 3, 1948, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Highlights
- Doc Harris sadly passed away at 76 after having a minor surgery last month.
- Harris has lent his voice in Dragon Ball Z.
- Doc Harris, aka Gilbert Auchinleck, was not suffering from cancer.
He was a voice actor known for Monster Rancher (1999), Dragon Ball Z (1996), and The X-Files (1993).
When he started his radio broadcasting career in Canada in 1966, many people were familiar with his work in Dragon Ball Z.
Later, he debuted on-air in Toronto as “Doc Holiday” in 1971. In 1973, she returned to the West Coast as “Gil” and started broadcasting under “Doc Harris” in 1976.
However, his versatility and unique voice quickly made him a sought-after talent in the entertainment industry.
In addition, he lent his voice to several other beloved characters, such as Grigar in My Little Pony.
He contributed to Aegis Defenders, Hulk: The Video Game, and Captain N: The Master.
Legendary Voice Actor Doc Harris’s Death Cause Was Not Cancer
Social media is abuzz with the news that Doc Harris has passed away following complications of cancer.
However, Doc was suffering from an illness caused by a minor surgery that he had last month.
Sadly, he took his last breath on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at 76 in Vancouver General Hospital.
Ian James Corlett, the voice of Goku, whose other credits include Mega Man and Beast Wars: Transformers, divided his tribute to Harris into two posts.
Voice actor Doc Harris, known to anime fans as the original Dragon Ball Z narrator, has passed away at 76. pic.twitter.com/Lrpq4YpCIz
— Anime Corner (@animecorner_ac) October 7, 2024
In the first Instagram post, Corlett described how he met Harris, who he called “one of the greats.”
Doc was a HUGE force in my early career. More than just a DH, he lived and breathed music. He also had a keen eye for movies. I first met him when I was working at the music store and sold him some audio/recording gear. Seizing upon ANY slim opportunity to get my foot in the door, I struck up a relationship with him. In short order he graciously included me in his world. I would do comedy call-in bits with him, and ultimately song parodies and topical music bits. I remember being struck by the stark difference between his on-air language his REALLY salty off-air linguistic style.
Harris and Corlett also worked on fellow Vancouver productions, Barbie and Candy, and the former described the latter as the “king of the malapropism.”
Sadly, when he was in Vancouver this past summer, Corlett wasn’t able to meet up with Harris for lunch, so he capped off this post with “Sorry, Doc. I owe you one. Actually, I owe you a hundred lunches” and “RIP, Doc.”
His passing follows seven months after Dragon Fall franchise creation Akira Toriyama, who died at 68.
In his second Instagram post, Ian started by saying how Doc Harris was gracious in spirit to help out a young gun like him. He said,
One day he paid me one of the highest compliments I ever received. We were working on something and I was doing my crackly ‘young nerdy guy’ voice, he said. ‘You remind me of #RickMoranis …’ which I embarrassedly accepted. But when he continued to say ‘ya, he used to be my engineer (not on-air talent) at a station in Toronto when I started using him for comedy bits…’ I was floored. With that history in mind, his compliment was even more massive.
One fan on Reddit paid tribute by saying,
“His voice was the only thing that could make the phrase sending someone to ‘another dimension’ instead of killing them actually sound epic.”
Doc Harris, the narrator of Dragon Ball Z has sadly passed away at the age of 76. His iconic voice brought joy to millions, RIP🕊️💔. pic.twitter.com/fyrLTqXKxX
— vids that go hard (@vidsthatgohard) October 7, 2024
Moreover, his fans and close ones have offered their heartfelt condolences to his family and urged them to stay strong in this challenging period.
In his whole life, he has not been open about his personal life. Therefore, the nature of his illness has not been disclosed.
Additional Information
- Doc Harris attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and later studied Theatre Arts at the University of Victoria.
- According to his Facebook profile, he was the former Locutor at CKPG CKLG-FM/CFOX CFUN CJAT.
- He was the former Am Drive at Rock 1040/Magic 104.
