Veteran Pokemon voice actress Maddie Blaustein passes away

Earlier today it was announced that English anime VA Maddie Blaustein, most famous for her role as Meowth in 4Kids’ dub of Pokemon, passed away unexpectedly last Thursday at the age of 48…

I could not find out the exact details of Maddie’s death; it was either the result of a recent illness or the after affects of an operation, but apparently she died in her sleep. I’m sure there are many of us who got our start in anime by watching the English dub of Pokemon, and who are very familiar with Maddie’s role as Meowth. Maddie provided the voice for Meowth for nearly 8 years in almost 400 episodes and 8 movies of Pokemon. She also did a few voices in Slayers, as well as in Yu-Gi-Oh! and many other 4Kids series. Unfortunately, in late 2006, a decision between 4Kids, Pokemon USA, and Cartoon Network was made to completely recast the English voices for the 9th season of Pokemon before it would begin airing exclusively on Cartoon Network. Fans of the original Pokemon dub were outraged. Many petitions and letters went out, and a web site called Save Our Voice Actors (SOVA) was even launched. Maddie and the other Pokemon VAs were supportive, but in the end nothing could be done and the rights to the Pokemon dub were moved to PUSA with their new cast of VAs. However, despite this and the fact that the infamous 4Kids dubbed most of the Pokemon anime, Maddie and the other original Pokemon VAs are still fairly well liked in the fan community because their performance started many of us on the road to becoming anime fans.

Considering all the VA/seiyuu deaths that have happened over the past years, surprisingly I was not too familiar with any of them. Maddie Blaustein’s death however, touched me a lot more because 4Kids’ dub of Pokemon is what started me on the path to becoming the major anime fan that I am today. In fact, the lovable Team Rocket trio are half the reason I like the Pokemon anime, and I thought Maddie’s performance as Meowth was just as good or even better than seiyuu Inuko Inuyama. She provided Meowth with the perfect blend of sentiment, humor, and craftiness that made him so entertaining.

I’m still very much a Pokemon fan, and the 4Kids’ dub of the series, despite its many flaws, will always hold a special place in my heart for being the springboard into the deep passion for anime that I have today. Maddie’s performance as Meowth was greatly missed when the dub was changed, but she will be missed even more now that she will never be able to perform again.

Forty-eight is a young age to die nowadays, especially for someone with so much talent. Rest in peace, Maddie.

If you want to find out more info about Maddie and all the anime voices she has done, this page should be helpful.

And to get a taste of Maddie’s talent (and right in time for the coming holidays), here’s a hilarious song that Meowth sings for the Pokemon Christmas Bash CD that was released a bunch of years ago…

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  1. Pyoro says:

    oh no! pokemon was admittedly my first foray into anime, and meowth was by far my favourite among the team rocket trio… rest in peace maddie…

  2. IchigoXGaara says:

    I watched Pokemon starting when I was 4. I loved it. Maddie you made meowth my second favorite character of the show. may good be with you in peace.

  3. PokemonTrainerLisa says:

    Poor Maddie, it was a terrible tragedy that we lost her so soon. She was one of the best voice actors ever! And she was a wonderful person too! =(

    By the way, if you support our goal of bringing back Veronica Taylor, Eric Stuart, and Rachael Lillis to the Pokemon dub (but most importantly Veronica Taylor) and if you want to help them return to the show – please send me an email!

  4. When i heard that Maddie passed away,i couldn’t stop crying
    then heard that Pokemon Anime was now owned by Pokemon USA,and not by 4Kids i was outraged by that.

    so,Just seeing that picture of meowth at the top of this page is my favorite of all.Maddie was an extremely talented voice actress,that will never be forgotten. 4kids dub,was the reason i watched pokemon so much,and grew with those voices,Pokemon Usa can’t just take away something awesome away like that in a snap! >=|

    *~Lupita~*

  5. TR crazy! says:

    PLEASE, sign up with SOVA today, Maddie, Racheal,Eric and Veronica, were such talented voice actors and it would me so much to have them back!
    I know that we cant bring Maddie back but I would love the others to.

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