MTV’s The Maxx Star Michael Haley Dies at 67

Michael Haley, who voiced the purple protector of the otherworldly Outback in the MTV animated series The Maxx, has died at 67. His son, Brendan Haley, told Entertainment Weekly that the actor died after a “very abrupt battle with cancer.” “It is with a heavy heart I write that in the early hours of Saturday morning, my dad, Michael Haley, passed away after a very abrupt battle with cancer which had been diagnosed mere months prior,” Brendan said in a statement.

“Our family remains shocked and saddened by the rapid onset of his illness, but despite these tragic circumstances, we pressed close to ensure he was comfortable and surrounded by those he loved fiercely in the last days of his life. I remember my father as innately kind with a goofy sense of humor, traits he kept through these last few weeks, and the same traits best seen across his work in television, film, and radio.”Brendan’s statement continues, “I remember my father as innately kind with a goofy sense of humor, traits he kept through these last few weeks, and the same traits best seen across his work in television, film, and radio.



He was a fearless and unique talent, most notable for voicing the titular big purple superhero Maxx in MTV / Liquid Television’s animated series The Maxx (1995). While we miss him dearly, Dad can always be found roaming the wilds of that other jungle world with the Leopard Queen, performing tremendous feats of heroism.”An adaptation of the Image comic book created by Sam Keith and written by Keith and Bill Messner-Loebs, the MTV Animation series aired 13 episodes in 1995.

The Maxx followed a homeless man (voiced by Haley) in New York City, who was the purple-clad hero the Maxx in a savage dreamland called the Outback. His friend, freelance social worker Julie (voiced by Glynnis Talken), also roamed the Outback as the Leopard Queen, and the large, violent, purple and yellow masked Maxx used his claws to battle the likes of telepathic serial killer Mr. Gone (Barry Stigler).

(Keith once described the Outback as “the Australian outback on acid.”) According to Fangoria, Haley previously appeared as a background actor in the Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges-starring King Kong remake in 1976 and in the hit 1978 musical Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Haley later had voice roles in the video game series World of Warcraft and Diablo, and he most recently voiced Crunch Munch — a living, breathing cereal mascot with an insatiable appetite for destruction — in a 2022 episode of Brendan’s sci-fi/horror/comedy podcast series It Listens From the Radio.

The series, about a foul-mouthed alien called The Radio Entity who crash lands on 1950s Earth and begins to broadcast “strange, campy, and creepy horror tales,” released 19 episodes between 2020 and 2022. The post MTV’s The Maxx Star Michael Haley Dies at 67 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

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