Though primarily considered a comedic actor, Mars was also a capable dramatic performer who brought gravity and sympathy to these infrequent turns. ![]() "Bud" Prize, who had invented "chinodontics" to realign his face, on "Fernwood 2-Nite" (syndicated, 1977). ![]() Mars was also a staple of TV sitcoms during this period, most notably as the hapless W.D. A parody of Lionel Atwill's dogged, one-armed inspector in "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), Kemp sported a wooden arm with a mind of its own, as well as an accent so thick that his own countrymen could barely understand him. His greatest comic role of the 1970s was that of Inspector Kemp in Brooks' Oscar-nominated "Young Frankenstein" (1974). Most of these were comedies, which gave him a fine canvas for his broad talents: in "The April Fools" (1969), he was teamed with Melinda Dillon as an over-the-top married couple, while Peter Bogdanovich's "What's Up, Doc?" (1972) cast him as the fraudulent Croatian scientist who competed with Ryan O'Neal for a grant. The popularity of "The Producers" gave Mars' career a considerable boost, and he soon graduated to major supporting roles in Hollywood features. Mars' performance, which brought new levels of definition to the word "committed," was highly praised, and cemented him in the minds of audiences and casting directors alike as an eccentric German or other Middle European. The following year, Mars gained his breakthrough role as Franz Liebkind in "The Producers." A certifiably insane former Nazi, Liebkind penned the musical "Springtime for Hitler," which was purchased and produced by Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) and Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) in the hopes of defrauding its investors. In 1967, he landed his first role as a series regular on the Emmy-winning "He & She" (CBS, 1967-1970) as Harry Zarakartos, a jocular Greek fireman who would drop in on the show's stars, real life married couple Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, by crossing a plank that connected their apartment to the firehouse across the street. Along the way, Mars enjoyed roles in films by Woody Allen ("Radio Days," 1987), George Roy Hill ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1972), Arthur Penn ("Night Moves," 1975) and Peter Bogdanovich (1972's "What's Up, Doc?"), but it was his roles in the Brooks films and his animated work that ensured his favored status with movie lovers until his death in 2011.īorn in Chicago, IL on April 14, 1936, Kenneth Mars began his onscreen acting career in 1962 on the sitcom "Car 54, Where Are You?" (NBC, 1961-63), and soon became a staple of television comedies and dramas. An oversized talent in every sense, the chief weapon in Mars' comedy arsenal was his voice, which seemed to adapt to any variety of accents, including deranged Germans in "Producers" and "Frankenstein," kindly father figures like King Triton in "The Little Mermaid" (1989), and all manner of outlandish humans and animals in network cartoons. A prolific character actor with a penchant for absurd, theatrical European characters, Kenneth Mars provided some of the most uproarious moments in such classic comedies as Mel Brooks' "The Producers" (1968), "Young Frankenstein" (1974), and countless television shows, features and animated programs.
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