Christopher Ayres

For the journalist, see Chris Ayres.

Christopher Owen Ayres (May 16, 1965 – October 18, 2021)^[1] was an American actor, director and scriptwriter. He worked on voice acting and ADR directing on a number of English dubs of Japanese anime shows.^[3] In anime, he was best known as the voice of Kei Kurono from Gantz, Frieza from Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super, Prince Soma from Black Butler, and Shingen Takeda from the Sengoku Basara series. He was also known for Mock Combat for Cosplay panels at anime conventions.^[4][5]

Christopher Ayres
Ayres in 2013
Born	Christopher Owen Ayres (1965-05-16)May 16, 1965 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.[1]
Died	October 18, 2021(2021-10-18) (aged 56) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupations	Actor director scriptwriter
Years active	1990s-2021
Partner	Krystal LaPorte
Family	Greg Ayres (brother)[2]

Early life and career

Ayres had his first professional acting gig in a commercial for Lollipop Soft Drinks in Richmond, Virginia, when he was six years old.^[6] The Ayres family moved to the Alief, Houston, area of Houston, Texas, when he was 12,^[7] where Chris attended Alief Middle School,^[8] and then Alief Elsik High School. He graduated in 1983.^[9] After graduating high school Ayres attended Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, and studied theatre until 1985.^[9] He returned to Houston and continued to study theatre at the University of Houston.^[9] 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 community.^[10][11]

Personal life and death

In November 2017, Ayres was diagnosed with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and required a double lung transplant to survive. A YouCaring fundraiser was created that sought $25,000 to assist with medical care and procedures.^[12][13]

Ayres died on October 18, 2021, at the age of 56 years, following years of complications from pulmonary disease. His death was announced on Twitter the following day by his partner and fellow voice actress, Krystal LaPorte.^[14][15]

Filmography

Anime

List of voice performances in animation

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.[16]
2003	Saint Seiya	Ushio	ADV dub
2004	Kino's Journey	Bartender
	Bast of Syndrome	Dr. Pluto		[17]
	Mezzo DSA	Motoharu, Taneri, Baba, Hanamura		[17]
	Sister Princess	Islander		[17]
2005	A Tree of Palme	Sawadust		[18]
	Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu	Atsunobu Hayashimizu		[19]
	Gantz	Kei Kurono		[20][21]
	Godannar	Tetsuya Kouji		[17]
	Initial D	Miki	Funimation dub
	Maburaho	Yukihiko Nakamaru		[17]
	Yugo the Negotiator	Yusuf Ali Mesa		[17]
2006	Diamond Daydreams	Kenji Kurata		[17]
	Macross	Lin Kaifun	ADV dub	[17]
	Nanaka 6/17	Jinpachi Arashiyama		[17]
	Papuwa	Oshodani		[17]
	Speed Grapher	Suitengu		[17]
	Nerima Daikon Brothers		ADR director	[22]
2008–2009	Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch		ADR director unreleased English Dub
2009	Fairy Tail	Duke Everlue
2010	Sengoku Basara	Shigen Takeda		[23]
	Black Butler	Soma Asman Kadar		[24]
	Dragon Ball Z Kai	Frieza		[17]
	Golgo 13	Dave McCartney		[17]
	Legends of the Dark King: A Fist of the North Star Story	Elder		[25]
	Tears to Tiara	Arthur, Pwyll		[17]
	Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt	Corset		[26]
2011	Clannad After Story	Sudou, Kinoshita, various characters		[17]
2013	Another	Yosuke Sakakibara		[27]
	Kokoro Connect	Inari's brother		[25]
2016	Hanayamata	Additional voices	ADR director	[28]
2017–2019	Dragon Ball Super	Frieza

Films

List of voice performances in feature, direct-to-video and television films

Year	Series	Role	Notes	Ref.[29]
2011	Mardock Scramble: The First Compression	Welldone the Pussyhand		[25]
2012	Gintama: The Movie	Kamui, Taizo Hasegawa, Tatsuma Sakamoto, Ner		[25]
	Sengoku Basara: The Last Party	Shingen Takeda		[25]
2015	Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F'	Frieza		[30]
2018	Dragon Ball Super: Broly	Frieza	Final film role	[31]
2021	The Dog Park: Prank Calls	Caller #1	Short; Final role

Video games

List of voice performances in video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.[29]
2008	The Last Remnant	Wagram		[32]
2010–2018	Dragon Ball series	Frieza[25]

Theater credits

List of acting and directing credits in the theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.[29]
1989–1991	Peter Pan	Slightly, John Darling (understudy)	Tour	[33]
1990–1991	Peter Pan	Slightly, John Darling (understudy)	Broadway - Lunt-Fontanne Theatre	[34]
1991–1992	Peter Pan	Slightly, John Darling (understudy)	Broadway - Minskoff Theatre	[35]
1999	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas		Director and Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[36]
1999	The All Night Strut A review of 30's and 40's music		Director Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[37]
2000	Gypsy		Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[38]
2000	And the World Goes 'Round		Director Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[39]
2001	Hair		Director and Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[40]
2001	Man of La Mancha		Director and Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[41]
2002	Cabaret		Director and Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[42]
2003	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum		Director and Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[43]
2004	Romeo and Juliet		Fight Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[44][45]
2004	The Pirates of Penzance		Director and Choreographer Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[46][47]
2005	Noises Off		Director Country Playhouse, Houston, TX	[48]
2005	The Rocky Horror Show		Director, Choreographer and Fight Choreographer Playhouse 90, Rosenberg, TX	[49]
2005	You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown		Director and Choreographer Playhouse 90, Rosenberg, TX	[49]