Rainer Basedow (20 May 1938 – 15 May 2022) was a German film, television, and voice

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

. He is known for having provided the voice of Pumbaa in the German dub of the '' Lion King'' franchise, up until his replacement with Jürgen Kluckert in ''

The Lion Guard ''The Lion Guard'' is an American animated television series developed by Ford Riley and based on Disney's 1994 film ''The Lion King''. The series was first broadcast with a television film titled ''The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar'' on Disney ...

''. He also dubbed

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...

as Jake Blues in ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...

'' and Ron Donachie as Sergeant Harley in ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

(now

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

), Basedow graduated from high school in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

in 1956. As he was not allowed to study in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

due to " political unreliability", he fled to West Germany in 1956. He studied to be a teacher, German and sports at the . He went then for a half year to an acting school in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. In 1961, he found his first leading role in the Beckett play '' Waiting for Godot'' in a small theatre at the Siegestor. Followed by engagements in Bern,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, at the , and again in Munich. From 1962, he played at the

Münchner Volkstheater Münchner Volkstheater, or Munich People’s Theater, is a company based in the Bavarian capital and operated by the cultural office of the city government. Its original performing home opened in 1903. This was rebuilt in 1955, in 1983 and finally ...

. In 1968, he played a police officer in the cult film ''

Go for It, Baby ''Go for It, Baby'' (german: Zur Sache, Schätzchen) is a 1968 West German comedy film directed by May Spils and starring Werner Enke, Uschi Glas and Henry van Lyck. The film won two German Film Awards. Location shooting took place in Munic ...

''. Basedow played the Sergeant Dimpfelmoser in the 1974 children's film ''Der Räuber Hotzenplotz'', based on the fictional character

The Robber Hotzenplotz The Robber Hotzenplotz ( ) is a character created by German author Otfried Preußler for his children's book series of the same name. There are three tales about Hotzenplotz: * ''The Robber Hotzenplotz'' (1962) * ''News from the Robber Hotzenplo ...

, at the side of Gert Fröbe and Josef Meinrad. Basedow's Dimpfelmoser had a lasting impact on the portrayal of this character, for example on puppet stages. From 1976 to 1995, he was a permanent member of the Münchner Lach- und Schießgesellschaft. Dieter Hildebrandt's television cabaret '' Scheibenwischer'' hired him for several editions. Basedow was seen on television in ''

Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, an ...

'', ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

'', '' Der Alte'', '' Der Bulle von Tölz'' and '' Küstenwache''. He was married to Mathilde, whom he met on a set, since 1971. The couple had four children.

Death

Basedow died on 15 May 2022 in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, at the age of 83.

Selected filmography

Source: * ' (1967) * '' Trace of a Girl'' (1967) * ''

Hot Pavements of Cologne ''Hot Pavements of Cologne'' (German: ''Heisses Pflaster Köln'') is a 1967 West German crime film directed by Ernst Hofbauer and starring Richard Münch, Walter Kohut and Arthur Brauss.World filmography, 1967 p.145 The film's sets were design ...

'' (1967) * ' (1968) * ' (1968) * ''

'' (1968) * ''

Death and Diamonds ''The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers'' is a detective fiction series of books published by Aladdin Paperbacks (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), which replaced The Hardy Boys Digest paperbacks in early 2005. All the books in the series have be ...

'' (1968) * ' (1968) * ' (1969) * '' Angels of the Street'' (1969) * '' Why Did I Ever Say Yes Twice?'' (1969) * ' (1969) * ''Love, Vampire Style'' (1970) * '' When the Mad Aunts Arrive'' (1970) * '' When You're With Me'' (1970) * '' Aunt Trude from Buxtehude'' (1971) * ''

Tiger Gang The Tiger Gang (german: Kommissar X jagt die roten Tiger) is a 1971 Kommissar X Eurospy film directed by Harald Reinl that was an international co-production between West Germany and Italy. Cast * Tony Kendall as Jo Louis Walker * Brad Harri ...

'' (1971) * ''Ore di terrore / Kreuzfahrt des Grauens'' (1971) * ''

Four Times That Night ''Four Times That Night'' ( it, Quante volte... quella notte, "How many times... that night") is a 1971 commedia sexy all'italiana film directed by Mario Bava. Plot Male model John Price encounters Tina Bryant while walking her poodle, "Cool Ru ...

'' (1971) *'' My Daughter, Your Daughter'' (1972) * '' The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of'' (1972) * '' Three Men in the Snow'' (1974) * ' (1974) * '' Lina Braake'' (1975) * '' The Clown'' (1976)

Citations

General and cited references

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basedow, Rainer 1938 births 2022 deaths German male film actors German male television actors 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors German male voice actors People from Mühlhausen