Manfred Lichtenfeld

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Manfred Lichtenfeld (born May 6, 1925 in Kiel , † January 19, 1997 in Bad Honnef ) was a German actor and voice actor . He is remembered by television audiences mainly thanks to his distinctive voice, especially as the grasshopper Flip in the cartoon series Maya the Bee and as the nagging box grandpa Statler in the Muppet Show by Jim Henson .

Life

Manfred Lichtenfeld was born in Kiel on May 6, 1925 . After training at a private drama school, he made his theater debut in 1942. Engagements in Schweidnitz , Cottbus , Kiel, Krefeld , Essen and Stuttgart followed . For more than 20 years, from 1968 to 1989, Lichtenfeld was part of the ensemble of the State Theater on Gärtnerplatz in Munich . There he played, among other things, Schultz in the musical Cabaret . Since 1978 he could also be seen in the Theater des Westens in Berlin . There he often appeared in operettas such as Im Weisse Rößl or as a frog in Die Fledermaus . One of his other star roles was Colonel Pickering in the musical My Fair Lady . He was last seen in the spring of 1996 in Damn Yankees on Kantstrasse.

Manfred Lichtenfeld captured the hearts of millions of large and small TV viewers with his unmistakable voice. Because of his tall and easily fragile organ, he was a sought-after speaker. As such, he belonged to the regular troupe of the dubbing writer and director Eberhard Storeck , who used him in a number of animated series with great success, including as Flip in Maya the Bee and as Gorm ("I am delighted!") In Wickie and the strong men . In addition, Lichtenfeld was heard in practically all anime TV series between 1975 and 1985 . The fact that the stories of these television series were also widely used as radio play cassettes and records ensured their speakers a high level of awareness and recognition beyond the actual television broadcasts . In the late 1970s, Lichtenfeld also took over the train driver Anton in the last episodes of the radio play series Lok 1414 produced by Ariola , penned by the children's book author Friedrich Feld .

Lichtenfeld's greatest hour as a speaker came in the puppet series Die Muppet Show (1977 to 1981), also translated by Storeck , where he was allowed to grumble to his heart's content as a Statler and make fun of the protagonists of the show from the box. He and Walter Reichelt formed a well-rehearsed team as Waldorf , to which the mostly cynical closing words after the credits were reserved - a fixed ritual of the show that achieved cult status thanks to the polished language gags of Storecks and the congenial grumbling voices of Lichtenfeld and Reichelt. Lichtenfeld also spoke other characters from the show, including Dr. Gold tooth . Lichtenfeld was also heard in the Muppet films, most recently in Muppets - Die Schatzinsel in 1996 . In most of these roles he was also able to apply his singing talents.

As other cartoon characters Lichtenfeld spoke Asterix in Asterix with the British and the cockchafer Sumsemann in Peterchens Mondfahrt (1990). His roles as Herr von Unruh in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and as Nikolaus in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) again offered him grateful vocal parts. Since the audience strongly connected Lichtenfeld's voice with the characters mentioned above, he was only used comparatively rarely as a voice actor for real actors. Then it was mostly supporting roles, such as Leopoldo Trieste in The Name of the Rose . One of his few leading roles was Albert Sharpe in The Secret of the Haunted Cave . Lichtenfeld was also seen in smaller roles in television games and series, for example in 1968 in Chronicle of the Nägele Family at the side of Willy Reichert and Oscar Heiler .

Manfred Lichtenfeld died on January 19, 1997 at the age of 71 in Bad Honnef from cancer .

Filmography (selection)

Television films and series

  • 1962: paper mill
  • 1964: The trip around the world
  • 1965: Black Peter
  • 1966: ten percent
  • 1968: Chronicle of the Nägele family
  • 1978: Two Heavenly Daughters
  • 1982: A case for two - the hunter as a hare
  • Don Quixote

Speaker roles in TV cartoons and puppet series (synchronous years)

Dubbing parts in movies

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lichtenfeld, Manfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor and voice actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiel
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1997
Place of death Bad Honnef