Kenneth Mars

(1972) as well as appearing in Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) and Shadows and Fog (1991). Mars appeared in two seasons of Malcolm in the Middle as Otto Mannkusser, Francis's well-meaning but dimwitted boss, a German immigrant who owns a dude ranch. He voiced roles such as King Triton, Ariel's father, in the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid and its sequel, as well as its companion television series and the Kingdom Hearts series. Littlefoot's grandfather Longneck in The Land Before Time series (1994–2008), Professor Screweyes in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), King Colbert in Thumbelina (1994), and Tuskernini in Darkwing Duck (1991–1992). He voiced the Vault 13 Overseer in Interplay's Fallout. In 2001 he played uncle Sid, Grace's aunt Honeys husband, on Will and Grace.

• Name — Kenneth Mars • Born — 4 April 1935 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 12 February 2011 • Place of death — Granada Hills, California, U.S. • Education — Northwestern University • Occupation — * Actor • Years Active — 1962–2008 • Other Names — Ken Mars • Children — 2

Mars was born in Chicago. His father, Bernard "Sonny" Mars, was a radio and television personality. Kenneth studied fine arts and acting at Northwestern University.

Mars made his acting debut in 1962 as a book publisher on Car 54, Where Are You?. He later appeared on such television series as Gunsmoke, Get Smart, McMillan & Wife, Columbo, Harry O, The Bob Crane Show, and Police Woman. He also appeared in dramatic roles such as Will Turner, a former FBI agent, in Warren Beatty's The Parallax View. Mars played Harry Zarakartos on the Richard Benjamin-Paula Prentiss 1967 CBS-TV sitcom He & She. He was featured in several small roles in broadcasts such as the Misfits of Science pilot episode and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Shadowplay". He was cast opposite Bette Davis in Hello Mother, Goodbye!, a 1973 television pilot aired by NBC but never picked up as a series. From 1970 to 1974, Mars guest starred in five episodes of Love, American Style, playing various characters. In 1977, Mars became a series regular on both the Sha Na Na variety series and on Norman Lear's talk show parody Fernwood 2-Night in the recurring role of eccentric William W.D. 'Bud' Prize, from the Fernwood Chamber of Commerce, reprising the role on America 2-Night in 1978. In 2001, Mars portrayed a comedic famous but washed-up photographer on Just Shoot Me. Before his death, his final television roles were Otto, the German dude ranch owner on Fox's Malcolm in the Middle, an appearance on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana, and reprising his role as Grandpa Longneck in The Land Before Time television series. In 1969, Mars portrayed a marshal trying to raise a posse to pursue Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, only to have his address to the townsfolk hijacked by a friendly bicycle salesman. He frequently played characters with exaggerated accents, portraying German characters in The Producers (1967) and Young Frankenstein (1974) and a Croatian musicologist, Hugh Simon, in What's Up, Doc? (1972). His first broadly accented character was that of Sir Evelyn Oakleigh in the 1962 Off-Broadway revival of the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes. He also appeared in the 1962 Broadway play The Affair. In 1975, ABC/Dunhill released a comedy LP produced by Earl Doud, Henry the First, featuring Mars in several comedy bits as Henry Kissinger, including a cover version of the Bachman–Turner Overdrive song, "Takin' Care of Business". Mars also had a voice acting career, which began with voicing several characters on Uncle Croc's Block. In film, he voiced Ariel's father King Triton in The Little Mermaid and Littlefoot's grandfather Longneck in The Land Before Time franchise and its spin-off television series, as well as the villainous Professor Screweyes in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and Sweet William in Fievel's American Tails, sequel to An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. He had voice roles in various animated television series, such as The Smurfs, The Biskitts, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, TaleSpin, and Ludwig van Beethoven in the Animaniacs episode sketch "Roll Over, Beethoven", as well as video games such as Fallout and Kingdom Hearts, in which he reprised his role as Triton. He also played various minor roles on the popular radio show, Adventures in Odyssey. In 2008, Mars retired from acting after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years prior. His final performance was as Longneck in the animated television series The Land Before Time.

In 1977, Mars married Barbara Newborn. They had two daughters, and the marriage lasted until his death in 2011.

In 2006, Mars was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had already spread beyond his pancreas. Due to the cancer, he was unable to reprise his role as Triton in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, with Jim Cummings taking over the role, and Grandpa Longneck, his Land Before Time character, did not have a speaking role in the thirteenth film, The Wisdom of Friends. Mars died from cancer on February 12, 2011, at the age of 75.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1967 — Gunsmoke — Clyde Hayes — Episode: "The Returning" • 1967–68 — He & She — Harry Zarakartos — 21 episodes • 1968–70 — The Ghost & Mrs. Muir — Joshua T. Albertson, Ellsworth Gordon — 2 episodes • 1973 — Hawkins — Lester De Ville — Episode: "Murder in Movieland" • Guess Who's Sleeping in My Bed? — Mitchell Bernard — Television film • 1974 — Hello Mother, Goodbye! — Television pilot • 1975 — Wonder Woman — Colonel Von Blasko — Episode: "The New Original Wonder Woman" • It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman — Max Mencken — Television special • 1977 — Columbo — Mike — Episode: "The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case" • Fernwood 2 Night — William W.D. "Bud" Prize — 8 episodes • Baa Baa Black Sheep — Harold French — Episode: "Five the Hard Way" • 1978 — America 2-Night — William W.D. "Bud" Prize — 3 episodes • 1979 — Carol Burnett & Company — Various • 1980 — Hart to Hart — Dr. Cobb — Episode: "Murder Is a Man's Best Friend" • 1981 — The Facts of Life — Mr. Harris — Episode: "Gossip" • 1981–89 — The Smurfs — King Bullrush, additional voices — Voice, 21 episodes • 1983 — The Biskitts — Max, Fetch, Snarl — Voice • The New Scooby Doo Mysteries — Orson Kane — Voice, episode: "The Hand of Horror" • 1985 — Misfits of Science — Sen. Donner — Episode: "Deep Freeze" • 1987–90 — DuckTales — Vulcan — Voice, 2 episodes • 1988–91 — A Pup Named Scooby-Doo — Mr. Trixenstuff, Ghost of McMuttmauler, additional voices — Voice, 14 episodes • 1989 — Get Smart, Again! — Cmdr. Drury — Television film • The Further Adventures of SuperTed — Sleepless Knight — Voice, episode: "Sheepless Nights" • 1990–91 — TaleSpin — Heimlich Menudo, Buzz — Voice, 3 episodes • 1990 — 227 — Joe Bouvier — Episode: "Nightmare on 227" • The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda — Additional Voices — Episode: "Pity the Poor Pirate" • Timeless Tales from Hallmark — Mr. Budgeknot — Episode: "Thumbelina" • Garfield and Friends — Sherlock Holmes — Voice (as Ken Mars), episode: "Hound of the Arbuckles / U.S. Acres: Read Alert / Urban Arbuckle • Tiny Toon Adventures — Flavio — Voice, episode: "Hollywood Plucky" • Perfect Strangers — Alvin 'Ace' Atkins — Episode: "Call Me Indestructible" • Shades of LA — Uncle Louis Burton — 3 episodes • Potsworth & Co — Greystone Giant — Voice, 13 episodes • She'll Take Romance — Smokey — (as Ken Mars), Television film • New Kids on the Block — (Voice, as Ken Mars), 14 episodes • 1991 — Bobby's World — (Voice, as Ken Mars), Episode: "Clubhouse Bobby" • Darkwing Duck — Tuskernini — Voice, 6 episodes • 1992 — A Different World — Homeless Man — Episode: "Honeymoon in L.A.: Part 2" • Captain Planet and the Planeteers — Moisha Lowkowitz — Voice, episode: "If It's Doomsday, This Must Be Belfast" Credited as Ken Mars • 1992–94 — The Little Mermaid — King Triton — Voice, 25 episodes • 1992 — Fievel's American Tails — Sweet William — Voice, 6 episodes • 1993 — The Pink Panther — The Commissioner — Voice, 5 episodes • Bonkers — Gloomy — Voice, episode: "The Toon That Ate Hollywood" • Animaniacs — Beethoven — Voice, episode: "Roll Over, Beethoven" • Rugrats — Policeman — Voice, episode: "Party Animals" • 1994 — Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Colyus — Episode: "Shadowplay" • 1994–95 — Batman: The Animated Series — M2, Richard — Voice, 2 episodes • 1995 — Diagnosis: Murder — Walter Carstairs — Episode: "How to Murder Your Lawyer" • Freakazoid! — Dr. Gunter Hunterhanker — Voice, episode: "Candle Jack" • 1996 — Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman — Grant Gendell — Episode: "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark" • The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest — Faust — Voice, episode: "The Alchemist" • 1997 — The Drew Carey Show — Mr. Tinsley — Episode: "Hello/Goodbye" • The Naked Truth — Judge — Episode: "The Truth" • 1997–98 — Life with Louie — The Mayor, Priest, Rabbi, Doctor — Voice, 4 episodes • 1997 — Police Academy: The Series — Dr. Otis P. Quackenbush — Episode: "Les Is More" • 1998 — Godzilla: The Series — Dr. Alexander Preloran — Voice, episode: "Leviathan" • 2001 — Becker — Melvin Golar — 3 episodes • Just Shoot Me! — Horst — Episode: "Fanny Finch" • The Legend of Tarzan — Uncle Bert/Gorilla Elder (voice) — Episode: "Tarzan and the Challenger" • Will and Grace — Uncle Sid — 2 episodes • 2002 — Good Morning, Miami — Marty — Episode: "Penny Wise, Jake Foolish • 2002–04 — Malcolm in the Middle — Otto Mannkusser — 25 episodes • 2004 — Oliver Beene — Carl the Super — Episode: "Fallout" • 2007 — Hannah Montana — Gunter the Innkeeper — Episode: "School Bully" • 2007–08 — The Land Before Time — Grandpa Longneck — Voice, 9 episodes

• Year — Title — Role • 1995 — Shannara — Leah Guard, King of the Silver River, Dwarf Leader • 1997 — Fallout — Vault 13 Overseer • 2002 — Kingdom Hearts — King Triton • 2006 — Kingdom Hearts II

Kenneth Mars is recorded as actor and singer.