Kenneth Mars

Kenneth Mars
Kenneth Mars in 1967
Born	(1935-04-04)April 4, 1935 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 12, 2011(2011-02-12) (aged 75) Granada Hills, California, U.S.
Other names	Ken Mars
Alma mater	Northwestern University
Occupations	Actor comedian
Years active	1962–2008
Spouse	Barbara Newborn ​ (m. 1977)​
Children	2

Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011) was an American actor and comedian. 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). He also appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up Doc? (1972), and 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. Kenneth studied fine arts and acting at Northwestern University.

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, and The Bob Crane Show. 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. 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.

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 memorable 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 Broadcasting Company'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.

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.

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".

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 Animaniacs, 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. His final performance was as Grandpa Longneck in the animated television series The Land Before Time.

Personal life

In 1977, Mars married Barbara Newborn. They had two daughters, Susannah and Rebecca. The marriage lasted until his death in 2011.

Illness and death

In 2006, Mars was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had already spread beyond his pancreas. 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 not being able to voice Triton, he 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) and couldn't return to reprise his role as Otto in 2004 during production on season 6 of Malcolm in the Middle.

He died from the disease on February 12, 2011, at the age of 75.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Act One	Robert E. Sherwood
1967	The Producers	Franz Liebkind
1969	The April Fools	Les Hopkins
1969	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	Marshal
1969	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
1974	Young Frankenstein	Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp
1975	Night Moves	Nick
1978	Goin' Coconuts	Kruse
1979	The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again	Marhsal Woolly Bill Hitchcock
1981	Full Moon High	Coach Cleveland / Principal Cleveland
1983	Yellowbeard	Mr. Vrisp, Verdugo
1984	Prince Jack	Lyndon B. Johnson
1984	Protocol	Lou
1985	Fletch	Stanton Boyd
1985	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
1988	Illegally Yours	Hal B. Keeler
1988	Rented Lips	Rev. Farrell
1989	Police Academy 6: City Under Siege	The Mayor
1989	The Little Mermaid	King Triton	Voice
1991	Shadows and Fog	Armstead the Magician
1993	We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story	Professor Screweyes	Voice
1994	The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video
1994	Thumbelina	King Colbert	Voice
1995	Rough Magic	Magician
1995	The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video
1996	Citizen Ruth	Dr. Charlie Rollins
1996	The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video
1996	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
1998	The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock	Grandpa Longneck	Voice, direct-to-video
1999	Giggles	Triton	Direct-to-video
2000	The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea	King Triton	Voice, direct-to-video
2002	Teddy Bears' Picnic	Gene Molinari

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"
1973	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"
1975	It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman	Max Mencken	Television special
1977	Fernwood 2 Night	William W.D. "Bud" Prize	8 episodes
1977	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
1983	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"
1990	Timeless Tales from Hallmark	Mr. Budgeknot	Episode: "Thumbelina"
1991–92	Darkwing Duck	Tuskernini	Voice, 5 episodes
1992	A Different World	Homeless Man	Episode: "Honeymoon in L.A.: Part 2"
1992	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
1993	Bonkers	Gloomy	Voice, episode: "The Toon That Ate Hollywood"
1993	Animaniacs	Beethoven	Voice, episode: "Roll Over, Beethoven"
1994	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Colyus	Episode: "Shadowplay"
1994–95	Batman: The Animated Series	M2, Richard	Voice, 2 episodes
1995	Diagnosis: Murder	Walter Carstairs	Episode: "How to Murder Your Lawyer"
1995	Freakazoid!	Dr. Gunter Hunterhanker	Voice, episode: "Candle Jack"
1996	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Grant Gendell	Episode : "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark"
1997	The Drew Carey Show	Mr. Tinsley	Episode: "Hello/Goodbye"
1997	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
2001	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

Video games

Year	Title	Role
1997	Fallout	Vault 13 Overseer
2002	Kingdom Hearts	King Triton
2006	Kingdom Hearts II	King Triton

Discography

• Henry the First (1974) - Henry Kissinger

External links

• Kenneth Mars at IMDb
• Kenneth Mars at the TCM Movie Database