Richard Horatio Kavanian (born 26 January 1971) is a German actor, comedian, author and voice actor. He is famous for his cooperation with

Michael Herbig Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, which led to many popular movie comedies and

parodies A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...

, e.g. '' Manitou's Shoe''.

Life

Rick Kavanian grew up with his parents, both Armenian who emigrated from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in the 1950s, and his grandmother. As a child he learned to speak

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

from his parents who used to live in Romania,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

from his grandmother and learned

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

in school. From 1990 to 1994 Kavanian studied political science, North American history and psychology in Munich and Augsburg. The cooperation with Michael Herbig began in 1990, when both worked as authors and speakers for a German comedy

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

. In 1995 Kavanian moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and studied acting at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...

. After his return to Germany he played several roles alongside Herbig in the TV comedy show ''Easy Bully'', which later fades to the successful TV comedy show ''

Bullyparade ''Bullyparade'' is a German late night comedy sketch show which aired from 1997 to 2002 on German channel ProSieben. Michael Herbig, Rick Kavanian and Christian Tramitz were the main cast of the show. Herbig also directed, produced and mainly dev ...

''. Henceforward Rick starred in several comedy movies, had many TV appearances and began his work as a successful

Stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. Kavanian lives in Munich together with his wife Ilka. His personal idol is the British actor

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

.http://www.neon.de/kat/freie_zeit/internet/225297.html NEON-Podcast; 21 January 2008

Filmography

as movie actor * 2001: '' Manitou's Shoe' * 2001: Feuer, Eis & Dosenbier'' * 2002: * 2004: ''

Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 ''(T)Raumschiff Surprise – Periode 1'' ("Dream/Spaceship Surprise — Period 1") is a 2004 German comedy film by Michael "Bully" Herbig. It is a spoof of the 1960s American television series ''Star Trek'' and parodies several science fictio ...

'' * 2006: * 2007: ''

Lissi und der wilde Kaiser ' (Lissi and the Wild Emperor) is a 2007 German animated film comedy parody of the Sissi films. Plot A yeti makes a pact with the devil to kidnap the most beautiful girl in the world. This turns out to be the Princess Lissi, who is clearly the ...

'' * 2007: ''

Keinohrhasen ''Rabbit Without Ears'' (German title: ''Keinohrhasen'', "No Ear Rabbits") is a 2007 German romantic comedy film, written, produced and directed by Til Schweiger. Co-written by Anika Decker, and starring Nora Tschirner and Schweiger himself, ...

'' * 2008: '' 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde'' * 2009: ''

Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling ''Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling'' (''Killing Is My Business, Honey'') is a German comedy film directed by . Plot Enrico Puzzo (Franco Nero) is an eccentric Italian author who claims he knows Sicilian Mafia, the Mafia from inside. Based on ...

'' * 2010: ''Otto's Eleven'' * 2017: '' Bullyparade: The Movie'' * 2018: ''

Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver ''Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver'' () is a children's novel written by Michael Ende. The main characters are Luke () driver of Emma the steam locomotive, and his young friend/apprentice Jim Button () who go on an adventure together. The s ...

'' * 2020: '' The Magic Kids: Three Unlikely Heroes'' * 2020: '' Jim Button and the Wild 13'' * 2021: ''Beckenrand Sheriff'' as voice actor * 1999:

Austin Powers 2 ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' is a 1999 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the second installment in the ''Austin Powers'' film series, after '' International Man of Mystery''. It stars franchise co-producer and w ...

(German voice of

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...

(

Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...

)) * 2000: Happy Texas (German voice of

Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn ( ; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor. In film, Zahn is best known for his lead roles in '' That Thing You Do!'' (1996), '' Happy, Texas'' (1999), '' Joy Ride'' (2001), ''National Security'' (2003), '' A Perfect Geta ...

) * 2000:

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

(German voice of Phillip (

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

)) * 2002: Austin Powers 3 (German voice of Austin Powers, Dr. Evil,

Fat Bastard Fat Bastard is a fictional character appearing in the second and third films of the ''Austin Powers'' series: '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' and ''Austin Powers in Goldmember''. A morbidly obese henchman hailing from Clydebank, Sc ...

and

Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third and final installment in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four different roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmem ...

(Mike Myers)) * 2004:

Harold & Kumar ''Harold & Kumar'' is a series of American films created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. Beginning with ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004) and followed by ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'' (2008) and ''A Very Harold & ...

(German voice of Kumar) * 2005:

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

(German voice of Marty (

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

)) * 2006:

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

(German voice of Luigi) * 2006:

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed and produced by George Miller and written by Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hug ...

(German voice of Ramon) * 2006: Das hässliche Entlein & ich (German voice of Ratso) * 2007:

(several voices) * 2007:

Meet the Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the 1990 children's book ''A Day with Wilbur Robinson'' by William Jo ...

* 2008: Kleiner Dodo * 2008:

The Love Guru ''The Love Guru'' is a 2008 romantic comedy ice hockey film directed by Marco Schnabel in his directorial debut. It was written and produced by Mike Myers who was the leading cast-member along with Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco, ...

(German voice of Mike Myers) * 2008:

Madagascar 2 ''Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' (also known as ''Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa'') is a 2008 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG and PDI/DreamWorks and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The second in t ...

(German voice of Marty (Chris Rock)) * 2010:

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...

(German voice of Rex) * 2011:

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from the studio ...

(German voice of Luigi) * 2011:

Happy Feet 2 ''Happy Feet Two'' is a 2011 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced and co-written by George Miller. It is the sequel to the 2006 film ''Happy Feet''. Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugo Weaving, Magda Szubanski and Anthony LaPagli ...

(German voice of Ramon) * 2012:

Hotel Transylvania ''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American media franchise created by Todd Durham and owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It consists of four animated feature films, three short films, an animated television series, and several video games. The ...

(German voice of Dracula) * 2015:

Hotel Transylvania 2 ''Hotel Transylvania 2'' is a 2015 American animated monster comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with LStar Capital, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Relea ...

(German voice of Dracula) *2017:

Cars 3 ''Cars 3'' is a 2017 American animated sports comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is a sequel to '' Cars 2'' (2011) and the third film in the ''Cars'' franchise. It was directed by Brian Fe ...

(German voice of Luigi) * 2018: Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (German voice of Dracula) * 2018:

Tabaluga Tabaluga is a German media franchise featuring a fictional green dragon, created by German rock musician Peter Maffay, children's songwriter Rolf Zuckowski and author Gregor Rottschalk. Artist Helme Heine drew the image of Tabaluga as it is curren ...

as actor and author on television * 1996: Easy Bully * 1997–2002:

* 2004–2006: Bully & Rick * 2008–2009: Kosmopilot * 2011-: Die Klugscheisser

References

External links

*
Rick Kavanian - 'Du bjist eecht ljustig' TV Star Portrait
*
Rick Kavanian
at the German Dubbing Card Index {{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanian, Rick 1971 births Living people German male film actors German male voice actors German male television actors German male comedians German people of Armenian descent Male actors from Munich Comedians from Munich