Hamburg – He was world famous with his voice!
Woody Allen, James Cagney, Alain Delon, Jack Lemmon, Jack Nicholson, Oliver Reed, Gene Wilder, Roman Polanski, George Harrison and Bibo from Sesame Street – Wolfgang Draeger lent his voice to all of them and many more.
The radio play star and dubbing speaker died on Monday. The Hamburger was 95 years old.
This was shared by his children Sascha (known as the voice of Tarzan from “TKKG”) and Kerstin Draeger on Instagram on Tuesday evening. The radio play label Europa confirmed Draeger’s death on Wednesday.
“Now we were high in your beloved mountains for your 95th birthday … and now you just wanted to get even higher,” says Kerstin Draeger.
Millions of people knew his voice, but hardly anyone knew his face: he was the German dubbing voice of US actor Woody Allen.
The star’s special way of speaking was never a problem for him, Draeger said in a dpa interview in 2015. “Because part of me is like that myself. I’m a stutterer and I have a penchant for psychopaths and lunatics. If I had to not only speak the roles but also act them, I would create them exactly like that. James Cagney, who I also spoke to, was much more difficult. With this steam boiler I really had to act and make an effort. But Woody Allen, that’s practically me in a lot of ways.”
Among other things, Draeger was the German dubbing voice of Hollywood star Woody Allen
In addition to the big yellow bird Bibo from “Sesame Street”, Draeger also lent his voice to Commissioner Glockner from the series “TKKG”. At the end of the 1980s, Draeger succeeded Horst Frank as Commissioner Reynolds in the radio play series “Die Drei ???”.
“With Wolfgang Draeger, a really great, wonderful actor and friend has left us,” says Europe boss Heikedine Körting. “He leaves us all with an incredible number of great memories – both in film and on television, dubbing and radio plays. Last year we made great recordings together in the studio for “The Three ???”. Farewell, dear Wolfgang Draeger!”
As an actor, Draeger appeared in the ZDF series “The Legacy of the Guldenburgs”. Again as commissioner. “With his gentlemanly looks and his distinctive voice, he was an excellent fit for roles of respected persons,” says non-fiction author Björn Akstinat. The cartoon character Inspector Gadget was also part of the repertoire. (dpa/nat)
