Veteran voice actor Juli Erickson passes away: From One Piece's Tsuru to FMAB's Pinako, know the characters she voiced

One Piece and other long-running anime series have been counting on veteran English dub actors, and Juli Erickson was one of the most recognizable faces in that industry throughout the decades. As the English anime dubbing industry expanded worldwide since the late 1990s, older roles, which were mature, warm, and authoritative, were performed by actors with considerable stage and television experience. Juli Erickson was to be a familiar figure of these times, particularly in the shows that demanded a cool, sensible, or emotionally stabilizing act. She has recorded at various studios, worked in different genres, and is the reason why her voice was already familiar even without her name.

Juli Erickson passed away on December 17, 2025, at the age of 86. She had also voiced some of the most iconic anime roles in English dubs, most prominently as Tsuru in One Piece or Pinako Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist. Her death marked the culmination of a career that contributed to the creation of the way older female characters were represented in anime in the English language. Erickson's performances were characterized by clarity, restraint, and emotional credibility as opposed to exaggeration. Fans and even industry people fell all over themselves with tributes upon the announcement of her passing.

Erickson portrayed Tsuru, a veteran Marine vice admiral in the series One Piece, as a member of the older generation of Navy leadership. The character of Tsuru required authority that was not aggressive, and Erickson achieved it with the help of controlled pacing and a calm voice. She also played Kokoro in One Piece, another old but emotionally dynamic character whose heart was soft in comparison to the discipline of Tsuru. These two performances demonstrated Juli Erickson's flexibility in a single franchise.

Erickson has also played the role of Pinako Rockbell, which is frequently regarded to be one of the most popular roles that she has ever played in Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Pinako is the grandmother of Winry Rockbell, serving as the emotional center and moral compass in the show. The voice used by Erickson was old, experienced, and funny without making the character's personality soft. This act had left an impact on the popularity of this character among English speakers.

In addition to One Piece and Fullmetal Alchemist, Erickson was featured in many popular anime series of the 2000s and at the beginning of the 2010s. She has played Recovery Girl in My Hero Academia in season one, which involved soft power and reassurance. She played Shima Maezono in Ouran High School Host Club and Ohba Babasama in Fairy Tail. All these parts enhanced the specialization of Juli Erickson on older characters that anchored younger actors.

Major Anime roles that defined Juli Erickson’s career

Juli Erickson also worked in more action-heavy and darker series, such as Basilisk, where she voiced Ogen, and Samurai 7, where she voiced Setsu. These shows demanded emotional control and story gravitas as opposed to being warm. Erickson appears as Setsuno in Toriko, a character who concealed her vast power beneath a reserved exterior. Her reliability with the dubbing studios was due to the consistency in her genres.

Juli Erickson also appeared in Kodocha as Shizuka Kurata, which once again depicts her flexibility in Slice-of-life and drama-oriented anime. In all these performances, Erickson continued to be vocal, with credibility rather than theatrics. This style fitted the norms of directing English dub well at a time when anime localization focused on naturalistic performances. Many of her recurring roles were already definitive versions to fans by the time she retired in 2018.

Juli Erickson's retirement announcement in 2018 was a discreet end to her productive career, and several of her characters have been recast on continuing series. Nevertheless, her previous performances did not end with this, and they continued to circulate in the form of reruns, home releases, and streaming networks. Erickson was a professional who was well respected and consistent, but not visible. The main contribution of her legacy is the emotional stability of the ensemble casts.

Trending

Overall, the death of Juli Erickson ends a significant period of the history of English anime dubbing. Her works contributed to the image of older characters as seen by the global community, beginning with One Piece to Fullmetal Alchemist. The reserved, cozy, commanding, and restrained performances of Erickson ensured that her characters were memorable. The traces of her works are still entrenched in some of the most influential anime from the past 2 decades.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback