Jürgen Thormann: Dubbing legend dies at the age of 96

The voice actor and actor Jürgen Thormann has died. This became known on Saturday from those close to the Berlin artist. He was 96 years old.

Thormann dubbed many stars, including the British Michael Caine. Cinema and television audiences are familiar with his sonorous voice – often spoken in the style of a British gentleman – from the “Batman” films with Caine as the butler Alfred Pennyworth, for example.

Thormann told the Deutschlandfunk Kultur broadcaster in 2019 about an encounter with the British world star: “He is a gentleman. Dressed accordingly. He expresses himself accordingly. An extremely likeable colleague.”

When Thormann spoke about his work in the dubbing studio, the actor was always modest throughout his life. “You try to do justice to the character you see in the film. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s this or that actor; what he shows, the way he played, should be as close to one as possible be translated into German.”

In the radio interview, he was rather skeptical about the latest developments in the industry: “The dubbing business has become very, very strict, short and fast.”

Thormann, who began his career in the theater, has lent his voice to screen stars since the 1950s. He voiced almost 1,400 roles, primarily of Hollywood stars in the German version, and was one of the most important voice actors of the post-war period, along with greats such as Eckart Dux, Arnold Marquis and Thomas Danneberg – a “Golden Generation”. He was still in the studio in his mid-90s.

Thormann was a member of the Berlin Schiller Theater ensemble for 30 years. As a TV actor, he was seen, among other things, in the ZDF series “Jakob and Adele”.

He also had striking guest appearances as a speaker in radio play series such as “The Three ???”, “TKKG” and “Benjamin Blümchen” – for example as the shady Señor Santora in “The Three ??? and the Magic Mirror” from 1980. In that “Three ???” podcast “Haschimitenfürst – Der Bobcast” Thormann remembered the recordings in 2022: “The whole thing is so relaxing, so lively and without any interference from anyone, it’s a pleasure.”

The Rostock native was a shy person in his private life and avoided any fuss about him. “There are people who touch me or pat me on the shoulder,” he said in the Deutschlandfunk-Kultur interview. “And then I always don’t know how I can save myself. I then say it would be a mistake. ‘It’s not me.’ And then the others are a little surprised at first. And I’m around the corner.”

The head of the radio play label “Europa”, Heikedine Körting, who often worked with Jürgen Thormann, paid tribute to the deceased with the words: “The wonderful, humorous, great actor Jürgen Thormann left our world, but left behind so much for young and old that we will never forget him.”