Peter Robbins, man behind voice of Charlie Brown dies by suicide at 65

Peter Robbins, the first actor to voice popular cartoon character Charlie Brown in the Peanuts animated specials, has passed away. The voice actor was 65 at the time of his death and his family confirmed that Robbins passed away a week ago and he died by suicide. Robbins had been struggling with mental illness and substance abuse for a long time and also suffered from bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.

Peter Robbins, voice of Charlie Brown passes away 

As per Fox 5, voice actor Peter Robbins passed away at the age of 65. His family shared that Robbins died by suicide a week ago, Peter had always struggled with mental illness. Despite his substance addiction problem, Peter considered Charlier Brown as his childhood hero and even had Snoopy and Charlie tattooed on his arm. 

In 2015, Robbins was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison as part of a plea agreement for sending threatening letters to his manager. Robbins had stated at previous hearings that he suffered from bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.

In an interview with Fox 5 post his bail, the actor opened up about his battle with mental illness and said, "I would recommend to anybody that has bipolar disorder to take it seriously because your life can turn around in the span of a month, as it did to me. I came out of prison and I’m a better person for it. I’m much more humble and grateful and thankful that I lived through the experience."

Image: Instagram/@cboydamian