Paul Haenen

Paul Haenen (b. 1946) is a well-known Dutch comedian who dubs many character voices on Sesamstraat, the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street; his characters include Bert, Grover, Dr. Nobel Price, and Don Music. He also translates many of the American Sesame Street songs to Dutch.
Paul Haenen has been playing Bert since Sesamstraat debuted in 1976. Initially, Bert's voice was dubbed by Ton Hasebos and Haenen only voiced Grover. But Haenen and Wim T. Schippers as Ernie were deemed the better match. Haenen and Schippers perform the voices of Bert and Ernie on De avonturen van Bert en Ernie (Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures) as well.
The Dutch Bert and Ernie are extremely popular and funny. Jim Henson was so impressed by the pair's performances that they're the only Bert and Ernie in the world who are allowed to write their own material for the records. Haenen and Schippers recorded a whole series of self-written Bert and Ernie record albums, and they also appear as Bert and Ernie in interviews.
Haenen and Schippers don't record the TV sketches together; partly because of their busy schedules, but also because they make each other laugh too much, and they have a great feeling for perfectionism. In an interview, Haenen said that when they are together dubbing the voices, they want to make the dub perfect by dubbing all characters properly. Because there is little time to do so, they were split up to make the job go faster. A running gag on the Dutch Bert and Ernie albums is that Bert sings off key, whereas Ernie knows how to sing harmony, and likes to brag about it. The pair appeared on-camera in the 2000 New Year's Eve special Sesamstraat In Paradiso, singing "But I Like You."
Haenen's other voice credits include character roles in The Dragon That Wasn't, Or Was He?, the first animated feature produced in the Netherlands, and various Disney and Pixar dubs, including The Gummi Bears (Toadie), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (as Bashful in the 1990 re-dub), The Jungle Book (Dizzy the vulture in the 1990 dub), Robin Hood (Sir Hiss), and The Incredibles (Edna Mode). On radio, he played a variety of character voices and starred on Margreet Dolman, alleen in Amsterdam! (1976), playing the female title character and the minister Dominee Gremdaat, among others. He'd reprise both on Schippers' radio series Ronflonflon and in TV appearances (with Gremdaat recurring on De Wereld Draait Door).
==Voice Credits==
*Sesamstraat Muppets: Bert, Grover, various horses (including Buster and Fred), Dr. Nobel Price, Don Music, the Three Little Pigs, Japanese Storyteller, Captain Breakfast
*Sesamstraat Animated Voices: Don Carrot, Cyrus the Magpie
*Hoor Wie Klopt Daar Kinderen: Saint Nicholas
*In Een Uur de Wereld Rond: Mr. Van der Grijp, the AA-man
*Grover Gaat Naar School: Mr. Snuffleupagus, David
*De avonturen van Bert en Ernie (Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures): Bert
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Category: International Voice Actors
Category: Sesamstraat Voice Actors