UPDATE: An obituary posted by Haddad's family on April 18 confirms the date of death as Saturday, April 11.
Voice actor Paul Haddad, who played Leon S. Kennedy in 1998's Resident Evil 2 -- making him the first person to portray the now-iconic Resident Evil protagonist -- has passed away. He was 56 years old.
Haddad's passing was confirmed on Twitter by the Italy-based game developer Invader Studios. "Paul Haddad, our dear friend and an icon among the [Resident Evil] community, has passed away recently. We've been truly honored to have the chance to meet and work with such a great man and a brilliant professional that he was," the studio wrote. "Rest in peace, Paul... You will live forever in our hearts."
Nick Apostolides, who played the character of Leon in 2019's Resident Evil 2 remake, paid his respects to Haddad as well, posting a tribute video to YouTube. "Recorded this when I found out," Apostolides said of the video on Twitter. "A few words for friend, legend and our one true Leon, Paul Haddad. Rest easy, brother. We love and thank you."
While details surrounding Haddad's passing are unclear, he was known to have been in poor health, launching a GoFundMe campaign back in February in order to pay for his third neurosurgery in three months. There are also conflicting reports regarding the exact date of death, with IMDb listing it as April 15, whereas the Wikipedia and the Resident Evil Wiki say he passed on April 11.
A resident of Toronto, Canada, Haddad was born in Birmingham, England on May 20, 1963. He appeared in various television series, films and shorts over the years. His most famous role came in 1998, with the release of Resident Evil 2 on the PlayStation. Haddad did not reprise his role as Leon Kennedy in any of the character's many subsequent appearances. His only other two video game credits are 1999's Hype: The Time Quest and Invader Studios' 2019 release Daymare: 1998. That being said, Haddad did star in the acclaimed Marvel Comics-based cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series, providing the voice for such characters as Arkon, Kiyoek and the mutant speedster Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver.