Helmut Krauss

Helmut Krauss (11 June 1941 – 26 August 2019) was a German actor. One of his best known roles was that of neighbor Herrmann Paschulke in the ZDF series Löwenzahn between 1981 and 2019.

Life

Theater Helmut Krauss trained as an actor and studied pedagogy. He has performed at the Forum Theater, the Grips Theater and the Hansa Theater in Berlin and at the State Theater in Hanover, among others. In the 1970s he also appeared as a reciter at events of the left-wing and socialist movement in West Berlin. As a cabaret artist he has performed as a partner of Hannelore Kaub in the cabaret Das Bügelbrett and several times in Dieter Hildebrandt's Scheibenwischer.

At the Karl May Games in Bad Segeberg in 2005, Helmut Krauss took on the role of Don Geronimo, a friendly innkeeper who runs a cantina in the small Mexican town of Guaymas. At the same time, as in previous years, he played the narrator. The Störtebeker Festival on Rügen hired him for the 2006 season as Ambrosio. In Bregenz he played the role of Paul Bunyan in the play of the same name under the direction of Nicholas Broadhurst. In April 2008 he toured Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy with the Theater des Ostens production of The Name of the Rose.

Film and TV The list of his appearances in film and television is long. He appeared first in the 1951 Austrian movie series Asphalt. (also known as Die Minderjährige klagen an) as Hellmut Kraus.

In one of his best known roles, he was seen from 1981 to 2019 as neighbor Hermann Paschulke, known as Mr. Paschulke, in Löwenzahn; until 2005 initially alongside Peter Lustig and since 2006 together with Guido Hammesfahr. In this role, Krauss formed the bourgeois contrast to Peter Lustig; the two mostly engaged in friendly rivalries and arguments within the episodes. He had guest appearances in productions such as Berliner Weiße mit Schuß, Tatort, Lukas und Sohn, Der Hausgeist, Praxis Bülowbogen or Pastewka; in the latter he played himself.

He also became known to a nationwide television audience through his portrayal of the plainclothes detective "Django" Fiebig in the police series Direktion City, which was produced by the then SFB in three seasons based on the English model Task Force Police, together with Andreas Mannkopff, Ulli Kinalzik, Klaus Sonnenschein, Gerd Duwner and many other well-known Berlin actors.

In August 2009, Eric Hordes' film The Founder, a satire about the former television station Kanal Telemedial, was shot. Krauss played the title character Gerhard Hornbacher, who parodies the controversial media entrepreneur Thomas Hornauer. Krauss also took on the role of dubbing director in the film, which he co-produced. In 2015, Krauss worked again with director Hordes and appeared in front of the camera for Under ConTroll alongside Eva Habermann, Jiří Lábus and Katy Karrenbauer.

In 2019, Krauss worked with Hordes for a third time and played Inspector Hornbacher in the dramedy series Patchwork Gangsta, produced by SWR for the media channel funk. Two months before his death, he was in front of the camera for Löwenzahn. In honor of his long-standing role as Paschulke in Löwenzahn, the Löwenzahn episode Endlos Haltbarkeit - Wenn aus Nachbars Freunde werden was broadcast for the first time on May 17, 2020, which is intended as a homage to and farewell to Helmut Krauss. He voiced Maurice in the German dub of The Penguins of Madagascar and Waternoose in the German dub of Monsters Inc. as well as the Grandfather in the 2015 German TV reboot of Heidi.

Krauss was often cast in villain roles. For example, he voiced Fidget in the Disney animated film Basil, the Great Mouse Detective and Percival C. McLeach in The Rescuers Down Under. In the Disney animated version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he voiced the Archdeacon; in the official audio play for the film by Kiddinx, Krauss was also the narrator, as the narrative texts were written from the Archdeacon's perspective. In a television episode of Benjamin Blümchen, he voiced a Bavarian farmer whose daughter is friends with Otto. He was the narrator in the German version of the Japanese anime series Captain Future. In 1987, Krauss lent his dark, menacing voice to the pale-faced nailhead Pinhead in the surreal horror film Hellraiser. In addition to his full-time speaking roles, since 2007 he has also supported the student animated film Dreckmonster (Dirtmonsters) at the Konrad Wolf University of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg and took on the voice of the lead role Willi in the German version.

In 2002 and 2003, he also toured Germany with Die drei ??? speakers Oliver Rohrbeck, Jens Wawrczeck and Andreas Fröhlich with the live radio play Die drei ???: Master Of Chess, where he took on the role of narrator. He also did so again in 2009 in the live radio play Die drei ??? und der seltsame Wecker: Live and Ticking and in 2014 in Phonophobia - Symphony of Fear. In Oliver Döring's Star Wars radio play Labyrinth of Evil (based on the novel of the same name by James Luceno; - ISBN 978-3-8291-2087-6), Krauss voiced a bartender.

In 2007, Krauss recorded two books by Dirk Bernemann as audio books for UBooks-Verlag. He has also played Opi Kopi in the audio play series Elea Eluanda since the beginning and has been involved in many ways with the audio play label Hörplanet. In Bernhard Hennen's audio play series The Elves, Krauss took on the role of the master builder Guido from episode 9 in 2014.

Krauss was also heard in several Lady Bedfort radio plays, such as Lady Bedfort and the Captain's Chest and Lady Bedfort and the Deception on the Train.

Private life Krauss was married twice and left behind three children and three grandchildren. He lived in the Lengde district of Goslar from 1978 until his death and also had temporary residences in Berlin and Mallorca. Krauss died on August 26, 2019, at the age of 78 in Goslar. His urn grave is located in the anonymous grave field in the cemetery in Lengde. In 2020, a public bookcase in Lengde was redesigned in his memory.

After his death In 2023, Nintendo used his voice lines of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds The Great Deku Tree for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Five years after his death, Helmut Krauss was brought back to life as an AI-generated character in Eric Hordes' music video Eric Hah: Graf Drakula. With the express consent of his heirs, the director was authorized to use the appearance and voice of Helmut Krauss in this production and future film projects in order to preserve his artistic legacy using cutting-edge technology.

Works (excerpt)

Voice Actor David McCharen

1990: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles as Shredder/Oroku Saki 1991: Turtles II – Das Geheimnis des Ooze as Shredder/Oroku Saki & Super-Shredder

Paul Winfield

1972: Das Jahr ohne Vater as Nathan Lee Morgan 1987: Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story as George Hairston 1990: 83 Stunden – Nervenkrieg gegen die Zeit as Dr. Dantley

Bill Cobbs

1995: Rettet das Tal der Zauberbären! as Caleb 1997: Air Bud as Arthur Chaney 1998:I Still Know What You Did Last Summer as Estes, der Voodoopriester

Charles S. Dutton

1993: Menace II Society as Mr. Butler 1995: Nick of Time as Huey 1996: Bittersüße Küsse as Howlin' Wolf 2000: Die Jazz Connection as Dizzy Gillespie

Yaphet Kotto

1978: Blue Collar as Smokey 1979: Alien as Parker 1983: The Star Chamber as Det. Harry Lowes 1987: The Running Man as William Laughlin 1988: Midnight Run – Fünf Tage bis Mitternacht as FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely

John Goodman

1990: Arachnophobia as Delbert McClintock 1994: The Flintstones as Fred Flintstone 1997: The Borrowers as Ocious P. Potter 1998: The Big Lebowski as Walter Sobchak 2008: Gigantic as Al Lolly

James Earl Jones

1987: Pinocchio und der Herrscher der Nacht as Herrscher der Nacht 1989: Three Fugitives as Dugan 1991: Verdammte des Südens as Ben Johnson 1994: Clean Slate as John Dolby 1996: A Family Thing – Brüder wider Willen as Ray Murdock 1999: Summer's End as Dr. William "Bill" Blakely

Marlon Brando

1990: Freshman als Carmine Sabatini / Jimmy der Tukan 1992: Christopher Columbus: The Discovery as Tomas de Torquemada 1995: Don Juan DeMarco as Dr. Jack Mickler/ "Don Octavio del Flores" 1997: The Brave as McCarthy 1998: Free Money as Warden Sven "Der Schwede" Sorenson 2001: The Score als Max 2008: The Godfather as Don Vito Corleone

John Ingle

1994 - 2007:Land before Time movies as Ceras Dad (Dreihorn)

Movies

1982: Rocky III – Mr. T as James "Clubber" Lang 1985: The Purple Rose of Cairo – Danny Aiello as Monk 1985: Rocky IV – Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago 1987: Hellraiser – Das Tor zur Hölle – Doug Bradley as Pinhead 1987: Predator – Jesse Ventura as Blain 1990: The Rescuers Down Under – George C. Scott as Percival C. McLeach 1991: Hot Shots! – Rino Thunder as Owatonna 1992: The Jacksons: An American Dream – Lawrence Hilton Jacobs as Joseph Jackson 1992: Karambolage (1963) – Mademoiselle Andréa 1994: Däumeline – Joe Lynch as Grundel 1994: Pulp Fiction – Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield 1995: Casper – Brad Garrett as Fatso 1996: Mars Attacks! – Jim Brown as Byron Williams 1997: Bean – Der ultimative Katastrophenfilm – Richard Gant as Lt. Brutus 1997: Casper: A Spirited Beginning – Jess Harnell as Fatso 1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park– Jim Harley as Hafenmeister 2000: Thomas, die fantastische Lokomotive – Neil Crone as Diesel 10 2001: Monsters Inc – James Coburn as Waternoose 2004: Der Wixxer as Neighbour (Intro–Voice) 2007: Neues vom Wixxer ass Neighbour (Intro–Voice) 2008: Escaflowne – The Movie – Chafurin as Maulwurfmann 2010: Mary & Max – oder: Schrumpfen Schafe, wenn es regnet? – Philip Seymour Hoffman as Max 2010: Marmaduke – Sam Elliott as Chupadogra 2014: Earthlings – Joaquin Phoenix as Narorator 2014: Leprechaun: Origins – Gary Peterman as Hamish 2016: Land before Time XIV – George Ball as Ceras Vater (Dreihorn)

Series 1961–1966: Mr. Ed – Allan Lane as Mr. Ed 1980–1982: Captain Future – Tarō Jin as Narrator 1989–1998: Family Matters – Reginald VelJohnson as Carl Winslow 1990–1996: Prince of Bel Air – James Avery as Philip Banks 1993–1999: The X-Files – Jerry Hardin as "Mann mit der tiefen Stimme" (Deep Throat) 1994: Aaahh!!! Real Monsters – Gregg Berger as Grummler 1995: Lady Oscar – Yoshito Yasuhara as Ludwig XV. 1996: Frasier – Harris Yulin as Jerome Belasco 1997–2000: Superman – Die Zeichentrickserie – Michael Ironside as Lord Darkseid 1999–2001: Unten am Fluss – Nigel Pegram as General Woundwort (Staffel 3) 2000–2002: Fix & Foxi and Friends – John Stocker as Uncle Fax 2000–2004: Yu-Gi-Oh! – Atsushi Kondou as Odion 2001: Donkey Kongs Adventure as King Kroko 2005: Desperate Housewives – Jon Polito als Charles Skouras 2009–2013: The Penguins of Madagascar – Kevin Michael Richardson as Maurice 2015: Heidi as Ernst Meier (Grandpa)

Videogames

1996: Toonstruck as Mal Block 1999: Shadow Man as Mike LeRoi 2002: Mafia: City of Lost Heaven as Don Ennio Salieri 2006: The Godfather als Don Vito Corleone 2009: Assassin's Creed II as Mario 2010: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood as Mario 2012: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria as Chen Sturmbräu 2012: Call of Duty: Black Ops II as Admiral Briggs 2014: Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn als Eynzahr Slafyrsyn 2015: Fallout 4 2015: League of Legends as Tahm Kench 2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as Great Deku Tree 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as Great Deku Tree

Audiobooks & Radioplays

1992: Friedrich Gorenstein: Streit um Dostojewski – Director: Walter Niklaus (SFB/DS Kultur) 2003: Chourmo – Autor: Jean-Claude Izzo – Director: Ulrich Gerhardt Offenbarung 23 as narrator Emily Laing, ninety-hour audio book series by Christoph Marzi Elea Eluanda as Opi Kopi Necroscope vol. 2, Vampirblut by Brian Lumley Enzo, die Kunst ein Mensch zu sein by Garth Stein Sacred as narrator Gabriel Burns, Episode: Die Fänge des Windes, Grenzgebiet, Nebelsee Dirk Bernemann, Ich habe die Unschuld kotzen sehen/ – Und wir scheitern immer schöner Das Rad der Zeit by Robert Jordan (Audiobooks, Audible) Geisterjäger John Sinclair as Vampiro del Mar Die Schatzinsel as Billy Bones, Direction and editing: Thomas Tippner Norbert Nackendick. Der Audio Verlag (DAV), Berlin, 2009, ISBN 978-3-89813-870-3 (Lesung, 1 CD, 65 Min.) Die Satanische Bibel. Index/Promedia Wittlich, 2007, ISBN 978-3-936878-06-6 (5 Audio CDs) Punchdrunk von Sven Heuchert, Wortpersonal/M!Music St. Augustin 2. Auflage 2016, ISBN 978-3-945273-07-4 [Audiobook, 1 CD, 95 min] Der letzte Krieger by David Falk (Audiobook, Audible exclusive) Eine Weihnachtsgeschichte by Charles Dickens (Audiobook, Audible exclusive) Gruselkabinett, Episodes: 97/98 (Madame Mandilips Puppen), 101 (Verlorene Herzen)

Live-Radioplays

2002–2003: Die drei ???: Master Of Chess as Narrator 2009: Die drei ??? und der seltsame Wecker: Live and Ticking as Narrator 2014–2015: Phonophobia – Sinfonie der Angst 2015: Pre fiction, as Jules Winnfield

as an actor

1976: Hans im Glück 1979: Tatort – Ein Schuß zuviel 1981–2020: Löwenzahn 1982: Drei Damen vom Grill (Season 3, Episode 3 – Auf Probe) 1983: Plem, Plem – Die Schule brennt 1984: Mord mit der Schere 1985: Ein Heim für Tiere (TV series, 1 Episode) 1988: Zum Beispiel Otto Spalt 1993: Der Hausgeist (TV series, 1 Episode) 1996: Atemlos durch die Nacht (TV movie) 1998: Lindenstraße (TV series, 2 Episoden) 2001: Goebbels und Geduldig (TV movie by Kai Wessel) 2005: Löwenzahn – Die Reise ins Abenteuer (TV movie) 2005: Pastewka (1 Episode) (TV series) 2006: Vineta 2011: Pentito (shortfilm) 2011: Löwenzahn – Das Kinoabenteuer 2011: Tatort Berlin (1 Episode) 2012: Der Gründer 2015: Schmidts Katze (Shortfilm) 2017: Los Veganeros 2 2018: Alice – The Darkest Hour 2019: Patchwork Gangsta (TV series, 2 Episodes) 2019: Under ConTroll – Possessed by a Monster