Christopher Owen Ayres (May 16, 1965 – October 18, 2021) was an American actor, director and scriptwriter. He worked on voice acting and ADR directing on a number of English dubs of Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

shows. In anime, he was best known as the voice of Kei Kurono from ''

Gantz ''Gantz'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2000 to June 2013, with its chapters collected in 37 vo ...

'',

Frieza , also spelled as Freeza in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists of the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise created by Akira Toriyama. He makes his debut in Chapter ...

from '' Dragon Ball Z Kai'' and ''

Dragon Ball Super is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. Set during the time frame of Toriyama's original ''Dragon Ball'' manga, it follows the adventures of Son Goku and his friends during the ten-year timesk ...

'', Prince Soma from '' Black Butler'', and Shingen Takeda from the ''

Sengoku Basara is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including three anime shows, an anime movie, a live action show, and numerous drama CDs, light novels, manga, and stage plays. Its story ...

'' series. He was also known for Mock Combat for Cosplay panels at anime conventions.

Early life and career

Ayres had his first professional acting gig in a

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for Lollipop Soft Drinks in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, when he was six years old. The Ayres family moved to the Alief, Houston, area of

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, when he was 12, where Chris attended Alief Middle School, and then Alief Elsik High School. He graduated in 1983. After graduating high school Ayres attended Lon Morris College in

Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Ja ...

, and studied theatre until 1985. He returned to Houston and continued to study theatre at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. Prior to his voice acting and ADR directing career, he was well known as a stage director, choreographer, and fight director in the Houston

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

community.

Personal life and death

In November 2017, Ayres was diagnosed with end-stage

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...

and required a double lung transplant to survive. A

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fundraiser was created that sought $25,000 to assist with medical care and procedures. Ayres died on October 18, 2021, at the age of 56 years, following years of complications from pulmonary disease. His death was announced on

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the following day by his partner and fellow

voice actress Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

, Krystal LaPorte.

Filmography

Anime

Films

Video games

Theater credits

References

External links

Official website
(archive) * * *
Christopher Ayres
at the CrystalAcids Anime Voice Actor Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Chris 1965 births 2021 deaths American choreographers American male musical theatre actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American theatre directors American voice directors Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Lon Morris College alumni Male actors from Richmond, Virginia Respiratory disease deaths in Texas 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors