'Dragon Ball' Voice Actor Chris Ayres Dies At 56

Chris Ayres, the voice actor who gave life to Freeza's character in the "Dragon Ball" series, has passed away at the age of 56.

Ayres' girlfriend, voice actress Krystal LaPorte, revealed the tragic news on Twitter Tuesday and shared a series of selfies with Ayres.

LaPorte revealed the actor died at 8:40 p.m. Monday and described his death as the time the world went "dark." She also said Aryes passed away "peacefully" as he was surrounded by his family.

pic.twitter.com/SvhMEeMWVk
— Krystal LaPorte (@WowSuchKrystal) October 19, 2021

She went on to share how much the actor loved his fans. Though LaPorte didn't mention Ayres' cause of death, she said his supporters helped him say strong as he dealt with his health struggles. According to a report from Entertainment Weekly, the voice actor was diagnosed with end-stage cardio obstructive pulmonary disease in 2017.

"Chris loved you all. How much he loved other people filled the vast majority of our conversations," LaPorte wrote. "To those of you who truly loved him back, thank you. To those of you who stayed in touch, checked on him, reminded him that he was so, so much more than his job, you were the fuel of his fight."

"You fed the dreams of a future that kept him going longer than any normal person could go," she added.

LaPorte concluded the message by encouraging people to be more like Ayres. She further requested, "If you learned anything from him, put it in this world. It needs him. Please fill it with love and laughter, always."

Fans have been devastated since the news came out. Many of them also took to the post's comments section to share messages of condolences.

One of the fans even wrote a heartfelt message addressed to LaPorte.

I make it sound so easy knowing its not, but the least we can ever do is try, because I know for a fact that no one wants to be remembered with a frown but with a smile, if there's one gift left you can give Chris, is trying to push forward as much as you can

Much love ❤️
— Majora Flash (@flashmajora) October 20, 2021

Prior to his death, Ayres had been open about his health condition on social media. A GoFundMe page had also been created to raise funds for his medical expenses.

In July, he also shared an update on Twitter and explained that he was unable to breathe properly.

Wish It was a happier one, but I wanted to give everyone an update and share my GoFundme again (I am sorry), as the last 4 months have been very hard. Hopefully my operation tomorrow will be the beginning of an easier road ahead.https://t.co/Pl2okilHAM pic.twitter.com/9tPslgaA2L
— Christopher Ayres (@Chrisayresva) July 28, 2021

Ayres, who has more than 200 credits to his name, lent his voice to Frieza in "Dragon Ball Z Kai," the enhanced remaster of "Dragon Ball Z" anime series, from 2009 to 2015. He voiced the same character in the animated films "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F'" and "Dragon Ball Super: Broly" which were released in 2015 and 2018, respectively. He also worked on the 2015 video game "Dragon Ball: Xenoverse."