It saddens us to report the deaths of two talented voice actors who once lent their voices to the Dragon Ball franchise and contributed greatly to overall anime fandom. Aoni Production announced last month that voice actress Chieko Honda had passed away at the age of 49 on 18 February 2013. She had been undergoing treatment for multiple forms of cancer at a local hospital, but they proved ineffective in stopping the spread of the aggressive cancers. Most anime fans will remember her roles as “Tellu” in Sailor Moon S and “Elpeo Ple” in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, but she did appear once in Dragon Ball Episode 4 as the young unnamed daughter being sought after by Oolong.

Theatre Echo announced in a press release earlier today announced that veteran voice actor Gorō Naya passed away around 3:00am on 05 March 2013 at his home in Chiba City due to chronic respiratory failure. He was 83 years old. Naya debuted as a voice actor in the 1950s and is associated with numerous classic anime franchises, such as Space Battleship Yamato, Casshan, Lupin III, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. He was also the main voice actor for some great Hollywood actors in their film’s Japanese dubs, including Charlton Heston, John Wayne, and Clark Gable. Naya’s sole performance in Dragon Ball came as the henchmen “Vongo”, under the gluttonous King Gurumes, in the franchise’s first theatrical film.

Thanks to forum members songohan619 and coola for bringing these to our attention.