Peter Robbins, the voice of Charlie Brown, has died by suicide after a lifelong battle with mental illness.
“Child actor” really is a leading indicator for risk of mental illness.
Mental illness is a bitch.
I’ve always thought Charlie Brown himself suffered from depression, and re-watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” this past year, my heart broke a little for Chuck (as much as it can for a cartoon character). I mean, with lines like these, how can this poor kid not be in need of some help (more than Lucy’s nickel psychiatry):
*Everything I do turns into a disaster.
*I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus.
*I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.
*I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?
Interesting that Robbins identified so deeply with Charlie Brown through his whole life, even after his time as his voice came to an end.
I’ve always been confounded by the decision to use real children to voice Peanuts characters since, in essence, those characters are only superficially children. Most of them represent adult insecurities and foibles.
Kids are people, too. They generally don’t express themselves as Peanuts characters do, but the feelings are still there.
Rats!
It would be better to use adult actors instead? I doubt it. I usually cringe when I hear adult actors try to voice children in cartoons, especially nowadays. The actress who voiced Little Lulu back in the '40s sounds positively mellifluous in comparison.
RIP, Chris! I fondly remember watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for the first time in December 1965.
A link below to a 2019 interview with Peter Robbins at a convention, with details about his very sad experiences with bipolar disorder and jail. He does end the interview on a positive note:
“This is my comeback convention,” he said. “This is my testament that parole works. Going to anger management works. Taking the proper medication works.”He noted that there were several parallels between himself and his fictional counterpart.
“The credit goes to the man who is actually in the arena, and fails time and time again, like Charlie Brown, to kick a football,” he said. “But it will never be with those timid souls who neither know the thrill of victory or agony of defeat.
“That is why Charlie Brown is such a wonderful character,” he added. “He does see a psychiatrist, so he knows he has got some problems and he is trying to get help. They always say that Charlie Brown is a lovable loser but, at the end of the day, he gathers everybody around the tree.”
Talk about matching an actor to a role. Good grief!
As someone who attempted suicide once before, and has been struggling with mental illness since 2007, I don’t condone Mr. Robbins taking his own life, but I understand it. Sometimes things can just become overwhelming, no matter how great a support system you have.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the United States is 800-273-8255. There’s also other services and programs that offer more specialized care, such as The Trevor Project for suicidal LGBT youth and young adults, which I’ve donated to in the past.
Rest in peace, Peter. May you find the peace in Heaven that you didn’t find on Earth.
Adult actors voicing Charlie Brown cartoons as adults would be fucking amazing.
Who is Chris?
Shit. I must be suffering from early onset dementia.
I guess I momentarily confused Peter with a character from popular children’s literature. These things happen.
They could get the cast of You’re a Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown!
I remember hearing a story of a talent scout searching for kids for the first Peanuts animation heard a kid in a store somewhere that would be the perfect Linus or Schroeder or I forget which. He tried convincing the mother that honest, he was a scout for a show and the child was perfect. She didn’t believe him.
That’s what the strips are for.
I love that they actually used kids. I like watching an old Adam 12 when one of the Shea brothers is on, and hearing Linus talk to Reed and Malloy.
If you use kids, they sound like kids. The actress playing Sally is perfect, even if they had to piece her part together from different takes because she couldn’t say the complete speech in one try. Plus they grow up, so we don’t have the 35 year old Bart and Lisa issue. On the other hand we get Pamelyn Ferdin, so there is that.
… Or, I might have momentarily confused him with Chris Shea, the boy who voiced Linus. Either way, it was a lapse.
Wouldn’t they just sound like muted trombones?
Except in “Adam-12”, where they can sound like miniature Jack Webbs.