Rick May

{{Short description|Canadian-American voice and theatre actor (1940–2020)}}

{{Infobox person

| birth_name = Richard James May

| name = Rick May

| image = Rick May photo.png

| caption = May in 2017

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|09|21}}

| birth_place = Bassano, Alberta, Canada{{Cite web|date=2006-08-22|title=Rick May: A Presence on Stage & Screen|url=http://rickevelt.com/bio_1.html|access-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822112307/http://rickevelt.com/bio_1.html|archive-date=2006-08-22}}{{cite news |title=Richard May |url=https://obituaries.seattletimes.com/obituary/richard-may-1080302427 |access-date=22 June 2024 |work=The Seattle Times |date=August 19, 2020}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|04|05|1940|09|21}}

| death_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

| alma_mater = St. Olaf College

| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|voice actor|theatrical performer|director|teacher}}

| years_active = 1973–2020

}}

Richard James May{{cite web |title=Richard James May Migration • Washington, Naturalization Records, 1850-1994 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZRX-KPX6 |access-date=23 June 2024 |location=Seattle, King, Washington, United States |date=June 13, 1960 |via=FamilySearch }} (September 21, 1940 – April 5, 2020) was a Canadian-American actor, theatrical performer, director, and teacher.{{Cite web|date=2006-08-22|title=Rick May: A Presence on Stage & Screen|url=http://rickevelt.com/bio_1.html|access-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822112307/http://rickevelt.com/bio_1.html|archive-date=2006-08-22}} May provided the English-language voice for Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64, the Soldier in Team Fortress 2, and Dr. M in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, among other video game characters. He also played Inspector Lestrade in the long running radio show The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes from 1998 through 2020.

Early life

May was born on September 21, 1940. He was raised in Washington and Canada.{{cite news |last=Wright |first=Diane |date=September 14, 2005 |title=Stage chameleon tackles role of Teddy Roosevelt |page=H23 |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/stage-chameleon-tackles-role-of-teddy-roosevelt/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=April 13, 2020}} May attended Roosevelt High School in Seattle and St. Olaf College (class of 1962) in Northfield, Minnesota.{{cite web |last1=May |first1=Rick |title=Rick May |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-may-4513b817/ |website=LinkedIn |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200418225442/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-may-4513b817/ |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |url-status=dead}}[https://wp.stolaf.edu/magazine/files/2020/11/St-Olaf-Magazine_Fall-2020.pdf St. Olaf Magazine], St. Olaf Colleges, volume 67, number 3, Fall 2020, page 44. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1960.

Career

May served in the U.S. military and was stationed in Japan, where he coordinated USO shows in Tokyo. May returned to the Seattle area to serve as the director of the Renton Civic Theatre and Civic Light Opera in Renton, Washington. In one production of the Cotton Patch Gospel in Renton, May played all 21 roles with a variety of voices.{{cite news |last=West |first=Phil |date=December 11, 1992 |title=Gospel according to Renton Civic Theatre |page=34 |work=The Seattle Times}} He retired from the Renton Civic Theatre in 2001 to begin his own theater company in Kirkland, Washington, and become a full-time actor.{{cite news |last=Giroux |first=Wendy |date=November 6, 2001 |title=Renton theater battles final curtain |work=King County Journal}}{{cite news |last=Adcock |first=Joe |date=September 18, 2001 |title=Theater Beat: Empty Space to fill a new space—temporarily |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/article/Theater-Beat-Empty-Space-to-fill-a-new-space-1066100.php |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |access-date=April 13, 2020}}

May began voice acting in video games in the late 1990s, including roles as Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64; various campaign characters, including Genghis Khan in Age of Empires II, and the Soldier in Team Fortress 2.

From 1998 through 2020, May played Inspector Lestrade in the Imagination Theatre radio series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He also played Lestrade in the related radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and played various roles in other Imagination Theatre radio dramas.{{cite web |date=January 23, 2020 |title=Video Games and Audio Dramas Meet at Imagination Theater |website=Imagination Theatre |access-date=April 13, 2020 |url=https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?u=be66d1df85f8860159cc19c37&id=c134badc3d |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205165403/https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?u=be66d1df85f8860159cc19c37&id=c134badc3d |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |url-status=dead}} The last two episodes of The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to feature May were recorded in late 2019,{{cite web|url=https://mailchi.mp/e401b727b43e/imagination-theater-news-april-2020|last=Albert|first=Larry|website=Imagination Theatre|title=Imagination Theatre News|date=April 28, 2020|access-date=April 29, 2020}} and were first broadcast in May 2020.{{cite web|url=https://kixi.com/shows/imagination-theatre-season-22/|title=Jim French's Imagination Theatre|access-date=April 29, 2020|date=2020|website=KIXI|publisher=Hubbard Radio Seattle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419041318/https://kixi.com/shows/imagination-theatre-season-22/|archive-date=April 19, 2020|url-status=live}} May played the role of Inspector Lestrade longer than any other actor in the history of broadcasting.

Death and tributes

May suffered a stroke in February 2020, and was moved to a nursing home for rehabilitation. May died from COVID-19 complications at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle on April 5, 2020.{{cite news |date=April 8, 2020 |title=Rick May – In Memoriam |url=https://www.classesandworkshops.com/in-memory-of-rick-may/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414112558/https://www.classesandworkshops.com/in-memory-of-rick-may/ |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=April 13, 2020 |publisher=Rekindle School}}{{cite web |title=Richard May |url=https://obituaries.seattletimes.com/obituary/richard-may-1080302420 |website=The Seattle Times |access-date=22 June 2024}}{{cite news |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=April 13, 2020 |title=Rick May, voice of the Soldier in Team Fortress 2, has died |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/rick-may-voice-of-the-soldier-in-team-fortress-2-dies/ |work=PC Gamer |access-date=April 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414042941/https://www.pcgamer.com/rick-may-voice-of-the-soldier-in-team-fortress-2-dies/ |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |url-status=live}}

On May 1, 2020, Valve released an update to Team Fortress 2 adding a tribute to May's voice work as the Soldier in the form of a new main menu theme titled "Saluting The Fallen," a rendition of "Taps", and locking the character image in the main menu to Soldier. The update also added statues of the Soldier saluting to most of the official in-game maps. These statues all featured a commemorative plaque dedicated to May, and remained in maps until June 1. The statues reappear annually, on the anniversary of May's death.{{cite news |last=Wilde |first=Tyler |date=May 2, 2020 |title=Rick May tribute added to Team Fortress 2 |work=PC Gamer |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/au/rick-may-tribute-added-to-team-fortress-2/ |access-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503041727/https://www.pcgamer.com/au/rick-may-tribute-added-to-team-fortress-2/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |url-status=live}} The statues emit a number of pre-selected voice lines from the Soldier when approached.{{cite web|url=http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=61081|title=A Hell of a Campaign|author=TF2 Team|date=May 4, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505063312/http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=61081|archive-date=May 5, 2020|url-status=live}} On August 21, 2020, a permanent tribute memorial was placed, in the form of a Soldier statue, and heads on the fence in front of the statue of the Soldier, in the map "Granary", which is the setting of the Team Fortress 2 video "Meet the Soldier".{{cite web|url=https://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=63310|title=Team Fortress 2 Update Released|author=TF2 Team|date=August 21, 2020|access-date=August 22, 2020}}

Many players in the community paid tribute to May's death in-game, where taunts and voice lines were played commemorating him. On most servers, a truce was called for both sides to pay tribute to the actor, and 21-gun salutes were fired on the map 2Fort.{{Cite news |last=Clayton |first=Natalie |date=2020-05-02 |title=Tributes to Soldier voice actor Rick May appear across Team Fortress 2 |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tributes-to-soldier-voice-actor-rick-may-appear-across-team-fortress-2 |access-date=2024-03-06 |work=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Team Fortress 2 Update Adds Tribute To Late Voice Actor Rick May |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/team-fortress-2-update-adds-tribute-to-late-voice-/1100-6476769/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}} Additionally, numerous animated shorts in Source Filmmaker were created and uploaded by the Team Fortress 2 community in honor of May.{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Logan |date=2020-04-14 |title=Team Fortress 2 Players Pay Tribute to Rick May In-Game |url=https://www.dualshockers.com/team-fortress-2-rick-may-tribute/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=DualShockers |language=en}} On December 20, 2024, Valve released a new Team Fortress 2 comic dedicated to May.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-20 |title=Team Fortress #7 - The Days Have Worn Away |url=https://www.teamfortress.com/tf07_thedayshavewornaway/#f=2|access-date=2024-12-20}}