Rachael Lillis was the original actress of the English dub of Misty and Jessie in the Pokémon-anime. She passed away at the age of 55 after losing her battle with breast cancer. Many fans are now paying tribute to the voice actress online.
What happened? Veronica Taylor, a colleague of Rachael Lillis, posted the sad news on X.com. She writes that Rachael Lillis had already passed away on August 10 and thanks all the fans on behalf of the family.
The voice actress reportedly received her diagnosis in May 2024. Subsequently, a campaign was launched on GoFundMe, which has so far raised around 92,000 euros.
What was Rachael Lillis known for? The voice actress voiced Misty and Jessie in the first eight seasons of the English version of the Pokémon anime. After the transition from 4Kids to The Pokémon Company, she could still be heard as Jigglypuff in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and in the Detective Pikachu movie.
Additionally, Rachael Lillis had roles in a total of 10 movies related to the Detective Pikachu film. Besides Jigglypuff, she voiced other Pokémon such as Vulpix, Bluzuk, and Goldeen. Rachael Lillis might also be familiar to you from the English versions of animes like Your Lie in April and Hunter x Hunter.
In the following YouTube video, the voice actress can be heard in two of her roles and is essentially having a conversation with herself:
Fans are shocked by the death
How is the community reacting? Many fans are horrified that one of their childhood idols has passed away so early. In a Reddit thread, many Pokémon fans gather to mourn her death.
For user jeremy-irons-cereal, she was one of the most iconic voices in the English dub of animes. Therefore, the day is exceptionally sad for him. Many users like ShadowReij also feel that 46 is far too young an age.
However: Rachael Lillis passed away at 55, not 46. The New York Times conducted an interview with the voice actor of James and states that she was 55 years old. Additionally, her sister clarified that she was 55 years old (via Irish Independent).
Meowth is also an iconic Pokémon from the anime:
User lordsmish shares a particularly emotional story: The Pokémon fan is currently watching all Pokémon episodes with his two-year-old child. The two even dressed up as Professor Oak and Pikachu at Comic Con. The death of the voice actress hits him even harder, especially since his mother also died of cancer.
Additionally, the sad news is making rounds on X.com. For X user KajiTang, Rachael Lillis was responsible for a good Saturday morning in his childhood. Even the official X account of Pokémon commented on the death:
The death of voice actors from animes and video games affects fans around the world. The death of Lance Reddick made big waves last year. He was known as Commander Zavala in Destiny 2 but also acted in films like John Wick: Destiny 2: Voice actor of Zavala has passed away – A legend has left us too soon
