He was one of the most important German speakers: dubbing star Eckart Dux is dead. Millions of viewers can still hear his most frequently spoken sentence, “I love it when a plan works.”
Sassenburg - He was the German voice of world stars such as Anthony Perkins, Steve Martin and Fred Astaire: Eckart Dux, one of the most important voice actors in German-speaking countries, is dead. “We are affected and sad,” said radio play director Heikedine Körting from the audio label EUROPA the German Press Agency. According to the family, Dux fell asleep peacefully on Tuesday.
“Such a long career - he couldn't offer the world more than he gave,” said Körting, who worked with Dux on the radio play series “The Three ???” and “TKKG,” among others. There had previously been reports of his death on social media. Dux was 97 years old and lived in Sassenburg near Gifhorn in Lower Saxony.
Dux's distinctively sonorous voice has accompanied German filmgoers for almost 80 years. He was the permanent spokesman for Anthony Perkins, for example in his role as Norman Bates in the horror classic “Psycho” (1960), and also frequently dubbed Steve Martin, for example in “Solo for 2” (1984).
Hannibal from the “A-Team” and Gandalf
In the 80s action series “The A-Team” he was the voice of US actor George Peppard aka “Hannibal”. Millions of TV viewers are likely to still hear his frequent phrase “I love it when a plan works.” A striking early work was the dub for Jerry Stiller as the curmudgeon Arthur in the US sitcom “King of Queens”. In the “Hobbit” films, Dux voiced Gandalf actor Ian McKellen. He was still in the recording studio in 2023.
Given his omnipresence as a dubbing voice, prominent appearances by Dux as an actor were rather rare. After his debut at the Renaissance Theater, the Berlin native was first seen in Defa cinema productions, such as the fairy tale film “The Singing, Sounding Tree” (1957).
One of his best-known television roles was detective chief Schlüter in the West German series “Polizeifunkruf” (1966-1970) and in the follow-up series “Hamburg Transit” (1970-1974) on NDR. In 1962 he played Sergeant Jeffreys in the street sweeper “The Neckerchief” (WDR) based on Francis Durbridge.
“I have known Eckart Dux for 50 years,” said Heikedine Körting. “Regardless of the fact that he was a wonderful actor, a great and kind person, it was always a great pleasure to work with him in the studio. Always perfectly prepared, nice and friendly. Just fabulous."
Dux has cult status among radio play fans. He appeared several times on “The Three ???”. Dux was also heard regularly in the “Gruselkabinett” series (Titania Medien). When he appeared in Berlin in 2019 at the release party for the 200th episode of “The Three ???”, he was frenetically celebrated by thousands of fans in the RBB broadcasting hall like a Hollywood star. dpa