Fred Maire

Fred Maire (1932-2020) was a German actor and voice actor who dubbed the speaking voice of Gobo Fraggle on Die Fraggles, and human roles in various Muppet projects (including The Wizard in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz). 
Maire was a trained stage actor, performing in many German cities including Bremen, Berlin and Munich. In Munich, he worked frequently as a voice actor, dubbing Klaus Kinski in over a dozen films, as well as Edward G. Robinson (seven times), Dennis Hopper (including True Grit), Harvey Keitel (including Sister Act), Charles Aznavour (three times), Groucho Marx (At the Circus and Go West), and David McCallum on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS.
Maire was a frequent presence in dubs directed by Eberhard Storeck, which in addition to Muppet projects included the Pinocchio anime (the fox) and Maya the Bee. He played small roles on German radio dramas before entering dubbing, and his periodic on-screen credits include episodes of Das Kriminalmuseum, Hamburg Transit, and Der Alte. He was a regular on the scifi TV series Telerop 2009 - Es ist noch was zu retten. 
Maire entered dubbing in 1965 for network ZDF, beginning with minor one-time roles on Maigret and The Big Valley and moving to larger guest parts on Star Trek. He lent his voice to Danny DeVito on the ZDF dub of Taxi, Michael Landon on Little House on the Prairie, and Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials, as well as cartoon figures Wile E. Coyote and Witch Hazel in the Looney Tunes. Animation roles include Carl in Up, the Cleaner in Toy Story 2, and Dr. Finkelstein in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
As Maire aged into voicing more senior performers, he dubbed David Bradley as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies, Billy Connolly in Quartet, John Hurt on Doctor Who, John Bluthal in Hail Caesar, and Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek: Into Darkness. He dubbed Yoda in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
His daughter, Laura Maire, also became a voice actor and dubbed the Ghost of Christmas Past in Die Muppets Weihnachtsgeschichte (The Muppet Christmas Carol).
==Muppet dubbing credits==
*Die Muppet Show: Jim Nabors, Tony Randall
*Muppet Movie (The Muppet Movie): Beauty pageant emcee
*Das Hasenpicknick (The Tale of the Bunny Picnic): Storyteller Bunny
*Jim Hensons beste Geschichten: McKay ("Fearnot"), Beggar ("A Story Short")
*Die Muppets feiern Weihnacht (A Muppet Family Christmas): Gobo (speaking)
*Die Muppets feiern Jim Henson (The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson): Harry Belafonte‎ 
==External links==
*German dubbing credits
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Category:International Voice Actors