The voice actor for Geralt’s foster father Vesemir from the Witcher games passed away in February. Now the developers have said goodbye to their old friend with a special gesture.
Thousands of players know his voice. He stood by our side in two Witcher games in the role of Geralt’s foster father and chief witcher Vesemir. Now William Roberts has fallen silent forever. The American actor and voice actor died in February 2025 at the age of 80.
Roberts was born in October 1943 in the US state of Oregon and gained his first acting experiences at the local Shakespeare Festival. After leaving school, he studied theater at Humboldt State College in California. He then emigrated to Great Britain, where he completed his studies in Manchester with a diploma in drama. There he also met his first wife, with whom he founded two theater groups.
In addition to theater acting, Williams specialized in dubbing and reading radio plays for the radio. He became known for his deep, sonorous voice. You can hear him as a speaker in anime films such as Patlabor 2 and Appleseed or in video games such as Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and the Witcher series. In his later life, Roberts was an enthusiastic pilot in his private life.
Farewell, old friend
After William’s death only became known to a wider public in April, many fans and former companions said goodbye to the deceased actor on social media. The developers of The Witcher, from the Polish studio CD Projekt Red, also remembered Williams. The studio shared a video on Twitter with which the team honors the Vesemir actor:
This year, we lost William ‘Bill’ Roberts, who portrayed Vesemir in The Witcher games. Today, we bid him a fond farewell.
You taught us, you gave advice, you cared for us. Kaer Morhen will never be the same without you. Godspeed, dear old friend. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Jgh0vklL5q
— The Witcher (@thewitcher) April 9, 2025
This year we lost William ‘Bill’ Roberts, who played Vesemir in the The Witcher games. Today we say goodbye to him with gratitude.
You taught us, you advised us, you cared for us. Kaer Morhen will never be the same without you. Farewell, old friend.
The video references one of the most emotional scenes from The Witcher 3; Spoiler alert!– Vesemir’s death. After the Battle of Kaer Morhen, the heroes around Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer gather around Vesemir’s funeral pyre and remember their old friend and teacher.
Ciri remembers that she learned a lot of her witcher craft from Uncle Vesemir
, Geralt explains that Vesemir died like a hero. Many Witcher fans had tears in their eyes during their first playthrough of The Witcher 3 – they couldn’t believe that Vesemir was supposed to be dead.
Saying goodbye with such an emotional scene to the man who brought Vesemir so convincingly to life is, of course, a fitting final gesture in memory of a personality like William Roberts.
