Kenneth Mars

Template:Short description Template:Infobox person Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011)<ref name="LA Times">Template:Cite news</ref> was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972) as well as Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) and Shadows and Fog (1991).

Mars appeared in two seasons of Malcolm in the Middle as Otto Mannkusser, Francis's well-meaning but dimwitted boss and a German immigrant who owns a dude ranch. He voiced King Triton, Ariel's father, in the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid and its sequel, as well as its companion television series, and the Kingdom Hearts series. He also did several other animated voice-over film roles such as Littlefoot's grandfather in the Land Before Time series (1994–2008) and that of Professor Screweyes in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), and King Colbert (Prince Cornelius's father) in Thumbelina (1994). He was also the voice of Tuskernini from Darkwing Duck (1991–1992).

Early life

Mars was born in Chicago. His father, Bernard "Sonny" Mars, was a radio and television personality.<ref>Profile, chicagotribune.com; accessed June 27, 2015.</ref> Kenneth studied fine arts and acting at Northwestern University.<ref name="LA Times"/>

Career

Mars made his acting debut in 1962 as a book publisher on Car 54, Where Are You? He later appeared on such television series as Gunsmoke, Get Smart, McMillan & Wife, Columbo, Harry O, The Bob Crane Show, and Police Woman.<ref name=TVGuide>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also appeared in dramatic roles such as Will Turner, a former FBI agent, in Warren Beatty's The Parallax View.

Mars played Harry Zarakartos on the Richard Benjamin-Paula Prentiss 1967 CBS-TV sitcom He & She.<ref name=TVGuide></ref> He was featured in a number of small roles in broadcasts such as the Misfits of Science pilot episode and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Shadowplay". He was cast opposite Bette Davis in Hello Mother, Goodbye!, a 1973 television pilot aired by NBC but never picked up as a series. From 1970 to 1974, Mars guest starred in five episodes of Love, American Style, playing various characters.<ref name=TVGuide></ref>

In 1977, Mars became a series regular on both the Sha Na Na variety series and on Norman Lear's talk show parody Fernwood 2-Night in the recurring role of eccentric William W.D. 'Bud' Prize, from the Fernwood Chamber of Commerce. He continued the role on the revamped America 2-Night in 1978. In 2001, Mars portrayed a comedic famous but washed-up photographer on Just Shoot Me. Before his death, his final television roles were Otto, the German dude ranch owner on Fox's Malcolm in the Middle, an appearance on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana, and a reprise of his role as Grandpa Longneck in The Land Before Time television series.<ref name=TVGuide></ref>

In 1969, Mars portrayed a marshal trying to raise a posse to pursue Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, only to have his address to the townsfolk hijacked by a friendly bicycle salesman. Mars frequently played characters with exaggerated accents. He portrayed German characters in The Producers (1967) and Young Frankenstein (1974), and played a Croatian musicologist, Hugh Simon, in What's Up, Doc? (1972). His first broadly accented character was that of Sir Evelyn Oakleigh in the 1962 Off-Broadway revival of the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes. He also appeared in the 1962 Broadway play The Affair.Template:Citation needed

In 1975, ABC/Dunhill released a comedy LP produced by Earl Doud, Henry the First, featuring Mars in a number of comedy bits as Henry Kissinger, including a cover version of the Bachman–Turner Overdrive song, "Takin' Care of Business".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Mars cultivated a lengthy voice acting career, launching it by voicing several characters on Uncle Croc's Block. He voiced the roles of Ariel's father King Triton in The Little Mermaid and in the video games Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.

He voiced Littlefoot's Grandpa Longneck in The Land Before Time series of films and the spin-off television series, and the villainous Professor Screweyes in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. He played some minor roles on the popular radio show, Adventures in Odyssey. He played Sweet William in Fievel's American Tails, which took place after An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. He voiced characters on many animated television series, such as The Smurfs, The Biskitts, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, TaleSpin, and as Ludwig van Beethoven in the Animaniacs episode sketch "Roll Over, Beethoven", as well as video games such as Fallout and Kingdom Hearts.

In 2008, Mars retired from acting after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years prior.<ref name="LA Times"/> His final performance was as Grandpa Longneck in the animated television series The Land Before Time.<ref name="LA Times"/>

Personal life

In 1977, Mars married Barbara Newborn. They had two daughters. The marriage lasted until his death in 2011.<ref name="LA Times"/>

Illness and death

In 2006, Mars was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had already spread beyond his pancreas.<ref name="LA Times"/> His cancer made him so ill that he could not reprise his role as King Triton for The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, so Jim Cummings took over the role. As well as being unable to voice Triton, he also could not voice Grandpa Longneck in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends. (Littlefoot's Grandpa does appear in the film, but has no lines.) He died on February 12, 2011, at the age of 75.<ref name="LA Times"/>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Act One	Robert E. Sherwood
1967	The Producers	Franz Liebkind
1969	The April Fools	Les Hopkins
	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	Marshal
	Viva Max!	Dr. Sam Gillison
1971	Desperate Characters	Otto Bentwood
1972	What's Up, Doc?	Hugh Simon
1974	The Parallax View	Former FBI Agent Will
	Young Frankenstein	Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp
1975	Night Moves	Nick
1978	Goin' Coconuts	Kruse
1979	The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again	Marshal Woolly Bill Hitchcock
1981	Full Moon High	Coach Cleveland / Principal Cleveland
1983	Yellowbeard	Mr. Crisp & Verdugo (dual role)
1984	Prince Jack	Lyndon B. Johnson
	Protocol	Lou
1985	Fletch	Stanton Boyd
	Beer	Adolphe Norbecker
1986	The Adventures of the American Rabbit	Walt / Vultor the Buzzard	Voice
1987	Radio Days	Rabbi Baumel
1988	For Keeps	Mr. Bobrucz
	Illegally Yours	Hal B. Keeler
	Rented Lips	Rev. Farrell
1989	Police Academy 6: City Under Siege	The Mayor
	The Little Mermaid	King Triton	citation	CitationClass=web }} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
1991	Shadows and Fog	Armstead the Magician
1993	We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story	Professor Screweyes	Voice<ref name="btva" />
1994	The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video<ref name="btva" />
	Thumbelina	King Colbert	Voice<ref name="btva" />
1995	Rough Magic	Magician
	The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video<ref name="btva" />
1996	Citizen Ruth	Dr. Charlie Rollins
	The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video<ref name="btva" />
	Bruno the Kid: The Animated Movie	Professor Van Trapp	Voice, direct-to-video
1997	The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video<ref name="btva" />
1998	The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock
2000	The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea	King Triton
	The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire	Grandpa Longneck
2001	The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze
2002	The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water
	Teddy Bears' Picnic	Gene Molinari
2003	The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video<ref name="btva" />
2005	The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses
2006	The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Gunsmoke	Clyde Hayes	Episode: "The Returning"
1967–68	He & She	Harry Zarakartos	21 episodes
1968–70	The Ghost & Mrs. Muir	Joshua T. Albertson / Ellsworth Gordon	2 episodes
1973	Hawkins	Lester De Ville	Episode: "Murder in Movieland"
	Guess Who's Sleeping in My Bed?	Mitchell Bernard	Television film
1974	Hello Mother, Goodbye!		Television pilot
1975	Wonder Woman	Colonel Von Blasko	Episode: "The New Original Wonder Woman"
	It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman	Max Mencken	Television special
1977	Columbo	Mike	Episode: "The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case"
	Fernwood 2 Night	William W.D. "Bud" Prize	8 episodes
	Baa Baa Black Sheep	Harold French	Episode: "Five the Hard Way"
1978	America 2-Night	William W.D. "Bud" Prize	3 episodes
1979	Carol Burnett & Company	Various
1980	Hart to Hart	Dr. Cobb	Episode: "Murder Is a Man's Best Friend"
1981	The Facts of Life	Mr. Harris	Episode: "Gossip"
1981–89	The Smurfs	King Bullrush, additional voices	Voice, 21 episodes
1983	The Biskitts	Max, Fetch, Snarl	Voice
	The New Scooby Doo Mysteries	Orson Kane	Voice, episode: "The Hand of Horror"
1985	Misfits of Science	Sen. Donner	Episode: "Deep Freeze"
1987–90	DuckTales	Vulcan	Voice, 2 episodes
1988–91	A Pup Named Scooby-Doo	Mr. Trixenstuff, Ghost of McMuttmauler, additional voices	Voice, 14 episodes
1989	Get Smart, Again!	Cmdr. Drury	Television film
1990–91	TaleSpin	Heimlich Menudo / Buzz	Voice, 3 episodes
1990	Tiny Toon Adventures	Flavio	Voice, episode: "Hollywood Plucky"<ref name="btva" />
	Timeless Tales from Hallmark	Mr. Budgeknot	Episode: "Thumbelina"
1991	Darkwing Duck	Tuskernini	Voice, 6 episodes
1992	A Different World	Homeless Man	Episode: "Honeymoon in L.A.: Part 2"
	Captain Planet and the Planeteers	Moisha Lowkowitz	Voice, episode: "If It's Doomsday, This Must Be Belfast" Credited as Ken Mars
1992–94	The Little Mermaid	King Triton	Voice, 25 episodes
1992	Fievel's American Tails	Sweet William	Voice, 6 episodes
1993	The Pink Panther	The Commissioner	Voice, 5 episodes
	Bonkers	Gloomy	Voice, episode: "The Toon That Ate Hollywood"
	Animaniacs	Beethoven	Voice, episode: "Roll Over, Beethoven"<ref name="btva" />
1994	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Colyus	Episode: "Shadowplay"
1994–95	Batman: The Animated Series	M2, Richard	Voice, 2 episodes<ref name="btva" />
1995	Diagnosis: Murder	Walter Carstairs	Episode: "How to Murder Your Lawyer"
	Freakazoid!	Dr. Gunter Hunterhanker	Voice, episode: "Candle Jack"<ref name="btva" />
1996	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Grant Gendell	Episode : "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark"
	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	Faust	Voice, episode: "The Alchemist"<ref name="btva" />
1997	The Drew Carey Show	Mr. Tinsley	Episode: "Hello/Goodbye"
	The Naked Truth	Judge	Episode: "The Truth"
1997–98	Life with Louie	The Mayor / Priest / Rabbi / Doctor	Voice, 4 episodes
1997	Police Academy: The Series	Dr. Otis P. Quackenbush	Episode: "Les Is More"
1998	Godzilla: The Series	Dr. Alexander Preloran	Voice, episode: "Leviathan"
2001	Becker	Melvin Golar	3 episodes
	Just Shoot Me!	Horst	Episode: "Fanny Finch"
2002–04	Malcolm in the Middle	Otto Mannkusser	25 episodes
2004	Oliver Beene	Carl the Super	Episode: "Fallout"
2007	Hannah Montana	Gunter the Innkeeper	Episode: "School Bully"
2007–08	The Land Before Time	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, 9 episodes<ref name="btva" />

Video games

Year	Title	Role
1997	Fallout	Vault 13 Overseer<ref name="btva" />
2002	Kingdom Hearts	King Triton
2006	Kingdom Hearts II

Discography

• Henry the First (1974) - Henry Kissinger

External links

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