John Erwin dead at 88: He will be best remembered as a voice actor in He-Man and Archie cartoons

Voice actor John Erwin was born John Lee Erwin on December 5, 1936 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in the United States of America. When it came to his career, John Erwin appeared on the 1956-7 syndicated series Citizen Soldier as a paratrooper and chaplain.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “For Filmmation, Erwin voiced the blond, muscular He-Man (and his alter ego, Prince Adam) on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from 1983-85 and on She-Ra: Princess of Power from 1985-87. He also played the villain Beast Man and other secondary characters on the syndicated shows that were based on a line of Mattel toys.”

When it came to his other work, Erwin was also a narrator on TV shows such as Lucy and Malcom & Eddie as well as movies such as Back to the Future Part II in 1989. Although he had retired, he decided to voice He-Man on a 2005 episode of Family Guy for the last time.

John Erwin was considered a reclusive star. On December 12, 2024, Graham-Amy Morris took to Facebook in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Fans group and wrote: “Hi all, psyched I just got this back today! Mailed it out for Alan Oppenheimer and he signed it and added Skeletor in his signature! Glad I got it now, as he has had to cancel recent con appearances (he is 94!). Had this book since I was around 4 or 5 years old, and I always loved the art and the story. Want to get it signed by John Erwin, but he is so reclusive now and apparently does not sign anymore. Either way, getting the original Skeletor on this is fantastic!”

The Battle Ram: A He-Man Blog Instagram shared a photograph of He-Man from the cartoon on Instagram with the caption: “Rest in peace, John Erwin.” Jonathan Rayn Bouler took to X and said: “Rest in peace to the legendary John Erwin who will forever be my He-Man. He made be believe that I could have the power.”