Robert Braun

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Robert Braun was one of the all-time great English language character actor dubbers. He worked as a dubbing actor in Paris in the 1960s before relocating to Rome at the end of the decade and continuing his career there through the 1970s, thus making him one of a very select few to have worked extensively with English dubbing in both Paris and Rome. Unfortunately, he’s also one of those extremely mysterious dubbers of whom there’s not even a picture available, but his marvellously eloquent Richard Burtonesque voice – which can be heard coming from the mouths of quirky older characters in a great number of Edgar Wallace krimis, spy and horror pictures, spaghetti westerns and what not – should be very familiar to fans of such cinema. Below is a sample of some of his most famous dubbing roles from his glory years in Paris:




Unfortunately, there’s practically no biographical information whatsoever available on Robert Braun, with the commonality of his name making him almost impossible to research. From his accent, however, we can at least surmise that he was in all likelihood British.

Robert’s earliest known dubbing credits are in Parisian dubs from the late 1950s, and as one of the relatively few Brit dubbers in Paris, he had a particularly good run in those years, dubbing shrewd and wizened Scotland Yard detectives, eccentric professors and the like in a series of German krimis, though he can also be heard voicing colorful old geezers in many peplums, noirish spy pictures, gothic horror movies and various entries in the Jerry Cotton and Dr. Mabuse film series. Check out the video below for some more examples of his excellent Paris dubbing work:



There were also several renowned international films that were dubbed into English in Paris, and two of the most famous ones that Robert was involved with dubbing were Ingmar Bergman’s Swedish masterpiece The Seventh Seal (1957, but dubbed circa 1965), in which Robert dubs the voice of Bengt Ekerot in the visually iconic role of a black-cloaked and chess-playing Death, and Akiro Kurosawa’s legendary Japanese samurai film Yojimbo the Bodyguard (1961), in which Robert provides the voice of Ikio Sawamura in the role of the town’s corrupt constable.


Bengt Ekerot
Robert dubs the voice of Bengt Ekerot as Death in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.


Ikio Sawamura and Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo
Robert is the voice of Ikio Sawamura (left), seen her with Toshiro Mifune, in the very rare English dub of Yojimbo the Bodyguard.

Siegfried Lowitz
Robert voiced Siegfried Lowitz in The Fellowship of the Frog (1959), the first in a long line of German crime thrillers based on the writings of Edgar Wallace. He later also dubbed Lowitz The Invisible Dr. Mabuse (1962).


Long-time Parisian English dubber Jimmy Shuman, when asked about Robert on my behalf by French dubbing enthusiast Rémi Carémel, remembered that Robert often dubbed the voice of beloved French comedian Louis de Funès for the English versions of his films. Unfortunately, most of de Funès’ films are difficult to find in English, but one that is available in an English dub is the comedy of errors Oscar (1967) and it is indeed Robert Braun who dubs the voice of de Funès here.

 

Louis de Funès
French comedian Louis de Funès (1914-1983) was often dubbed by Robert for the English language versions of his films in the 1960s.

 

Check out the video below for a little scene of Robert dubbing de Funès in the English version of Oscar:




In addition to dubbing voices, Robert was also a writer of dubbing scripts, adapting the original dialogue of films such as the French espionage thrillers Danger in the Middle East (1960) and License to Kill (1964) into English.


License to Kill (1964) dialogue credit
Robert receives an on-screen credit for dialogue in the English version of License to Kill, in which he also dubs the voice of actor Jean-Paul Moulinot.

The book "American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography" (2019) by Rob Craig credits Robert with the English dialogue for the film Danger in the Middle East.


At the end of the 1960s, Robert decided to bid farewell to Paris and relocate to Rome, where he would continue to work with English dubbing. Whether this was good idea might be debatable, as Robert had definitely had a very good thing going in Paris, where the relatively small talent pool of English dubbing actors and the fact that he was one of very few Brits in the group had made him stand out and ensured that he was in constant demand with the dubbing directors. In Rome, however, there was a far larger talent pool and a very strong group of well-established character actor dubbers (Tony La Penna, Richard McNamara, John Stacy, Frazier Rippy, Robert Spafford, Michael Tor, George Higgins, Geoffrey Copleston etc.) to compete with for roles. Thanks to his indisputable talent, Robert nevertheless managed to establish himself on the scene and secure regular dubbing work in many Eurocrime, horror and western films, but he didn’t land as many prominent roles as he had in Paris. Check out the video below for some examples of his Roman dubbing roles:




In 1979, Robert made a return to Paris when he was cast as the voice of the title character in the French animated film The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, whose English language version was supervised by long-time Parisian dubbing director Peter Riethof. Robert is perfectly cast as the voice of the legendarily boastful and extravagant baron, and his delightful performance is easily one of the best things about the film.

 


The role of the Baron in The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchhausen is currently the only known acting role for which Robert received a credit. He has no known on-screen roles.


In the video below, you can enjoy a few scenes of Robert voicing the famous Baron:

 


It’s not entirely clear whether the Baron Munchhausen cartoon marked a permanent return to Paris for Robert Braun, or if he simply continued to be called back for dubbing assignments here and there. It would seem that maybe the latter was the case, however, since Jimmy Shuman recalls that Robert lived in Rome and that he passed away at least 15 years ago. Unfortunately, there’s currently no further information available on Robert, but hopefully, more can eventually be dug up. In the meantime, you can also check out Robert’s dubbing filmography below. As always, these filmographies are works in progress and will be continually updated with new roles as I discover them.

 

English dubbing filmography (Paris):


- The Black Chapel (1959) - voice of Heinrich Himmler (Werner Peters)

- The Fellowship of the Frog (1959) - voice of Inspector Hedge (Siegfried Lowitz)

- The Head (1959) - voice of Dr. Ood (Horst Frank)

- The Indian Tomb (1959) - voice of Asagara (Jochen Blume)

- The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) - voice of Asagara (Jochen Blume)

- The Red Circle (1960) - voice of Chief Inspector Parr (Karl Georg Saebisch)

- Blind Justice (1961) - voice of Attorney General Ludwig Hansen (Alfred Balthoff)

- The Dead Eyes of London (1961) - voice of Sir John (Franz Schafheitlin)

- The Return of Dr. Mabuse (1961) - voice of Pastor Briefenstein (Rudolf Fernau)

- Yojimbo the Bodyguard (1961) - voice of Hansuke (Ikio Sawamura)

- The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) - voice of Watchman (Luis Dominguez Luna) and Antique Dealer (Javier de Rivera)

- The Invisible Dr. Mabuse (1962) - voice of Inspector Brahm (Siegfried Lowitz)

- Revenge of the Mercenaries (1962) - voice of Tolmino (Leopoldo Valentini)

- The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1962) - voice of Professor Pohland (Walter Rilla)

- The Treasure of Silver Lake (1962) - voice of Sam (Ralf Wolter)

- The Indian Scarf (1963) - voice of Reverend Hastings (Alexander Engel)

- Knights of Terror (1963) - voice of Duke Ladislaus (Beni Deus)

- The Mad Executioners (1963) - voice of Jerome (Rudolf Fernau)

- None But the Lonely Spy (1963) - voice of The Chief (Jean Martin)

- The Reluctant Spy (1963) - voice of The Police Inspector (Noël Roquevert)

- Tomb of Torture (1963) - voice of Dr. Darnell (unidentified actor)

- The Cave of Diamonds (1964) - voice of Si Ting Mo (unidentified actor)

- License to Kill (1964) - voice of Fromentin (Jean-Paul Moulinot)

- Mark of the Tortoise (1964) - voice of Dixon (Joachim Rake)

- A Pistol for Ringo (1965) - voice of Tim (Manuel Muñiz)

- The Return of Ringo (1965) - voice of Morning Glory (Manuel Muñiz)

- The Seventh Seal (1957; dubbed circa 1965) - voice of Death (Bengt Ekerot)

- The Hunchback of Soho (1966) - voice of Arnold Stone (Joachim Teege)

- Terror in Tokyo (1966) - voice of Mr. Chan (Jacques Legras)

- Tip Not Included (1966) - voice of John M. Clark (Walter Rilla)

- The Body in Central Park (1967) - voice of Mr. Dyers (Karel Stepanek)

- The College Girl Murders (1967) - voice of Glenn Powers (Claus Holm) and Mr. Kepler (Wilhelm Vorwerg)

- Kill Me Gently (1967) - voice of Inspector Rebat (Emilio Carrer)

- Oscar (1967) - voice of Bertrand Barnier (Louis de Funès)

- The Viy (1967) - voice of The Rector (Petro Vesklyarov)

- The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) - voice of Dutrouz (Henri Crémieux)

- Jeff (1969) - voice of Zucci (Gabriel Jabbour)

 

 

English dubbing filmography (Rome):

 

- Amazons of Rome (1961) - voice of Stavros (Renaud Mary)

- The Mark of the Wolfman (1968) - voice of Count Sigmund von Aarenberg (José Nieto)

- The Battle of Sinai (1969) - voice of Narrator

- Beatrice Cenci (1969) - voice of 3rd Excellency (Mirko Ellis)

- A Bullet for the President (1969) - voice of Pat (Paco Sanz)

- Naked Violence (1969) - voice of Mascaranti (Renato Lupi)

- Arizona Colt, Hired Gun (1970) - voice of The Doctor (Silvio Bagolini)

- The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971) - voice of The Milkman (Aristide Caporale)

- The Case is Closed, Forget It (1971) - voice of Pesenti (Riccardo Cucciolla)

- Sacco and Vanzetti (1971) - voice of Ballistics Expert (Page Jones)

- Something Creeping in the Dark (1971) - voice of Professor Lawrence (Angelo Francesco Lavagnino)

- Black Turin (1972) - voice of Puma (Giovanni Pallavicino)

- Shadows Unseen (1972) - voice of District Attorney (Claudio Gora)

- The Boss (1973) - voice of Don Giuseppe D’Aniello (Claudio Nicastro)

- Dirty Weekend (1973) - voice of TV Director (Gian Carlo Fusco)

- The Fighting Fist of Shangai Joe (1973) - voice of Ferguson Ranch Hand (Osiride Pevarello)

- Tales of Canterbury (1973) - voice of Old Greek King (unidentified actor)

- Blood Brothers (1974) - voice of Gigino (Nino Vingelli)

- The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (1974) - voice of Psychiatrist (Umberto Raho)

- Silence the Witness (1974) - voice of The Professor (Corrado Annicelli)

- Silent Action (1975) - voice of Prison Warden (Claudio Nicastro)

- Who’s Afraid of Zorro (1975) - voice of The Governor (Rodolfo Licari)

- Fear in the City (1976) - voice of Railway Company Boss (Tino Bianchi)

 

 

Animation dubbing (Paris):

 

- The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchhausen (1979) - voice of Baron Munchhausen

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 2, 2024 at 10:57 AM

    Great work Johan. You now have enough material for a book. Please put me down for one pre-order!
    I've been wondering where those early krimis were dubbed. I'm surprised that so many German films were dubbed in Paris. Did they not have English language dubbing facilities in Germany?
    PV

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Johan MelleNovember 2, 2024 at 3:42 PM

      Ha-ha! Thank you very much for the kind words, Paul!
      I should point out that while several of the krimis were dubbed into English in Paris, many were also handled by a Miami-based company called Copri International and those dubs are most definitely not in the same league as the ones done in Paris.
      I think a lack of native English speaking actors available to do dubbing was the main reason so many German films were dubbed in Paris, though an English dubbing scene did eventually get established in Munich. Robert H. Oliver, the director of FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS, was the main English dubbing director in Munich and was behind the English dubs of several notable Eurohorror films, including THE CANNIBAL MAN, THE BLIND DEAD, FRANKENSTEIN 80 etc.

      Delete

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