Kenneth Mars, Comedic Actor, Dies at 75

[sonnymax]

I just learned that actor Kenneth Mars passed away Saturday. While he performed in many other film and television roles, I will always treasure his characters Franz Liebkind in The Producers and police inspector Hans Wilhelm Friederich Kemp in Young Frankenstein. RIP.

February 15, 2011

Kenneth Mars, Comedic Actor in TV and Film, Dies at 75

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GRENADA HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Kenneth Mars, an actor best known for his over-the-top performance as a German playwright in the original movie version of “The Producers,” died on Saturday at his home here. He was 75. The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said.

In “The Producers” (1968), written and directed by Mel Brooks, Mr. Mars played Franz Liebkind, a Nazi enthusiast whose play “Springtime for Hitler” is the basis for a scheme by two conniving showmen (Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder) to bilk investors by putting on a sure-fire Broadway flop.

Mr. Brooks also cast Mr. Mars in “Young Frankenstein” (1974) as a police inspector with a malfunctioning artificial arm who is on the trail of the monster (Peter Boyle) created by a descendant of the original Dr. Frankenstein (Mr. Wilder).

Mr. Mars was born in Chicago and appeared on Broadway in “The Affair” in 1962 and on television in “Get Smart,” “Gunsmoke” and other series before being cast in “The Producers,” his first movie. He went on to divide his time between the big and small screens.

NYT

[Free For All]

Sorry to hear of his passing. He was great in a variety of roles- I especially loved his characters in Young Frankenstein and What's Up, Doc?

RIP

[JSngry]

Funny guy.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I first recall Mars in a short-lived c. 1967 TV series, He And She. It starred Richard Benjamin and the scrumptious Paula Prentiss, and Mars was a fireman in the station next door to their apartment. IIRC he'd always enter their place via a window-to-window plank... A funny man -- RIP.

[Free For All]

I first recall Mars in a short-lived c. 1967 TV series, He And She. It starred Richard Benjamin and the scrumptious Paula Prentiss, and Mars was a fireman in the station next door to their apartment. IIRC he'd always enter their place via a window-to-window plank... A funny man -- RIP.

Yes! I forgot about that. I remember that show- I had a crush on Paula Prentiss.

[AllenLowe]

DER FUHRER NEVER SAID "BABY!"

VERY FEW PEOPLE KNOW ZIS BUT DER FUHRER WAS A VERY GOOD DANCER - HE COULD DANCE THE PANTS OFF OF CHURCHILL!

I AM ZE AUTHOR OF ZIS PLAY - I OUTRANK YOU!

Edited February 15, 2011 by AllenLowe

[mjzee]

Now I'm sad. The Producers has always been one of my favorite films, and Mars's acting was a piece of inspired lunacy.

He was in a very good drama, "Desperate Characters" (1971) in which he starred opposite Shirley MacLaine. They played a bickering married couple. MacLaine was a genuine star then, so I was impressed that Mars got co-billing.

Desperate Characters - Amazon

[BERIGAN]

Now I'm sad. The Producers has always been one of my favorite films, and Mars's acting was a piece of inspired lunacy.

He was in a very good drama, "Desperate Characters" (1971) in which he starred opposite Shirley MacLaine. They played a bickering married couple. MacLaine was a genuine star then, so I was impressed that Mars got co-billing.

Desperate Characters - Amazon

I just bought this DVD at a big lots for $3.00 last night(apparently Paramount deleted a lot of titles back in 2009, and they are starting to show up in bargain bins) At first, I thought that was Charles Grodin on the cover!

Very sorry to hear this, he just about steals the show in films others mentioned, The Producers, What's Up Doc, Young Frankenstein. He was very good on Malcolm in the the Middle, this time as a kind hearted German.

[BruceH]

I also liked the work of his daughter Laura and grand-daughter Veronica.