Billy Kametz, Video Game and Anime Voice Actor, Dies at 35
It has been confirmed that well-known anime and video game voice actor Billy Kametz has sadly passed away from colon cancer. He was 35-years-old. In 2019, Kametz won Best Voice Actor Performance (EN) at the 4th Crunchyroll Anime Awards for voicing Naofumi Iwatani in The Rising of the Shield Hero. Kametz has lent his voice talents to many other notable anime, including Boruto, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Beastars, Aggretsuko, Pokémon Journeys, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. The talented performer has also voiced characters in several popular video games including Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Persona 5 Royal, One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, and Triangle Strategy.
Kametz grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and had reportedly always dreamed of being an actor. After performing with Disney's crew line, Kametz was chosen to play Aladdin in Disneyland’s Musical Spectacular in California. During his time living in California, Kametz began his fruitful voice acting career.
Kametz had his own Youtube channel and in a video filmed back in April, he announced that he had stage 4 colon cancer. In the Video, the voice actor stated that his health would force him to drop out of some upcoming projects. Kametz then proceeded to say, “If you guys could do me a favor, anybody that is replacing me on any show, if you could just please — it’s such a weird thing for an actor to have to do — if you could just support the crap out of them and be their biggest cheerleader, that would make me really, really happy.”
The agency, Point of Contact, first announced Kametz's passing with a tweet that read: “With tremendous and heartbroken regret, we must inform you of the passing of @BillyKametz.” The agency then posted a second tweet that read “Billy loved his fans so much and I know this is a horrible shock. Please take care of yourselves. Breathe. You are part of his legacy and he would want to know you’re going to be okay.”
Kametz is survived by his parents William and Cheryl, his sister Nikki Kametz Lees and her two sons, and his loving girlfriend Erica Lindbeck, who is also a voice actress. The beloved voice actor has also left behind a legacy of fans who will always remember the joy that he brought to the world with his talents. There will be a memorial for Billy Kametz held on June 15 in Pennsylvania.
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