William Kiehl

 

William “Bill” Kiehl was one of the undisputed top dubbers of the English dubbing scene in Rome in the 1960s. His deep and commanding voice made him an instant hit with the dubbing directors, and throughout the golden era of Italian sword and sandal epics, Bill dubbed all of the great beefcake heroes such as Steve Reeves and Reg Park, but also a number of colorful villains, and he even provided the voice for such renowned international stars as Marcello Mastroianni and Jean Marais. If the name and face doesn’t ring any bells then the voice will! Check out this video for some of Bill’s most famous dubbing roles:

As with most of the other English language dubbers of Rome, biographical details are hard to come by, but some nuggets of information are found in the small biography on Bill in the playbill for the 1972 Broadway play Night Watch. While it unfortunately doesn’t say anything about where he was born, it does inform us that he held a B.S. and M.A. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, so that may have been where he was originally from.

Just how Bill ended up in Rome is unclear, but he was a passionate theater actor all his life and it’s likely that he, like so many other promising actors, came to seek fame and fortune in the eternal city’s blossoming film industry during the so-called ‘Hollywood on the Tiber’ era in the 1950s. His on-screen career never really panned out, though, with uncredited bit parts in the Rome-lensed Hollywood epics Ben-Hur (1959) and Barabbas (1961) being his only known film appearances in Italy, but he instead found himself in much demand as a dubber. Initially for supporting parts in the late 1950s, but the pleasing timber of his deep and richly resonant voice ensured that he quickly rose through the ranks and established himself as the number one choice for leading men voices.

Interestingly, Bill also kept a different job, teaching English at the then newly founded Shenker Institute. Dubbing actress Nina Rootes, who came to Rome in late 1958 and found employment at Shenker, writes in her book Adventures in the Movie Biz (2013) about getting to know Bill there and how he got her started in dubbing:

“My boss at work, Bill, was an American, and, like most of the Americans I met in Rome at that time, he was gay. He and I got on famously. I knew that he was a successful part-time actor and I heard that, in the summer, he would disappear back to the States and do Summer Stock, taking leading parts. He told me that he was also doing a lot of dubbing, here in Rome, and asked if I would like to audition for this work. Of course, I jumped at the chance.”

 

Bill (on the far left) together with fellow dubbers Stephen Garrett, Nina Rootes, George Higgins and Michael Billingsley at a party in 1959. Picture taken from Nina Rootes' book Adventures in the Movie Biz.

 

Many of Bill’s summer stock credits are specified in a 1974 newspaper article on him in The Morning Press, which credits him with appearances as the King in The King and I, Marat in Marat-Sade, George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Fagin in Oliver, and Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Forum. He didn’t limit himself to dubbing and summer stock appearances, though, as according to the article, he also did some English language theater at the Teatro de’ Servi, and even worked on radio and in nightclubs in Rome.

Bill’s heyday as a dubber in Rome was from around 1960 to 1964. During that time, he was the undisputed top English dubber, and if you ever watch an Italian film from those years, chances are pretty big that it’s going to feature Bill’s voice. Peplum fans, in particular, will know him as the frequent English voice of some of the most popular muscleman stars such as Steve Reeves and Reg Park, but he also dubbed early Italian science fiction adventures and gothic horror films – usually in leading roles, though he also did his share of villains as his resonant and deep-timbered voice was equally adept for such parts.

 

Steve Reeves, the original Italian Hercules, was dubbed by Bill in The Trojan Horse (1961), The Avenger (1962) and The Slave (1962).

 

Italian muscleman star Alan Steel, or Sergio Ciani as he was actually named, was dubbed by Bill in Hercules Against Rome and Hercules Against the Moon Men (both 1964).

 

British muscle hunk Reg Park was given an American accent courtesy of Bill in Hercules in the Center of the Earth (1961), Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961) and Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964).

 

Richard Harrison was dubbed by Bill in The Invincible Gladiator (1961), The Giants of Rome (1964) and Ring Around the World (1966).

 

Check out the video below for various examples of leading men dubbed by Bill:

And in this video you can watch clips of various villainous roles dubbed by Bill:

One of Bill’s most famous – or perhaps infamous – dubbing jobs during his years in Rome was as the voice of the legendary Christopher Lee, who due to unclear reasons, was not able to dub his own voice for the German/Italian mystery thriller Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), in which Lee plays the role of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective. Thus, Bill was called in to dub Lee’s voice.

 

Christopher Lee in the role of Sherlock Holmes.

 

Presumably on account of the Sherlock Holmes job, Bill was again called on when Christopher Lee was unavailable to dub himself for Mario Bava’s gothic horror film The Whip and the Body (1963). The lack of Lee’s own wonderful voice on these two films has long been a point of frustration for a lot of Lee fans, and Lee himself, too, was apparently upset enough that he got it written into his contract that he would always dub his own performances. In spite of the flak thrown on these two dubbing performances, though, I will say that Bill actually does a very solid job of re-voicing Lee. The problem is just that he isn’t Christopher Lee, and for an iconic star with such a rich, characteristic voice, anything other than the man himself will inevitably feel disappointing. If you can somehow look past that, however, I still say Bill’s dubbing performance is very good. You can judge for yourself by taking a look at the video below:

Bill apparently also took on the job of president of the dubbing organization ELDA [English Language Dubbers Association] for a period in the early 1960s, as per dubbing actor Roger Browne, who remembered that Bill was the president when he arrived in Rome in 1960: “ELDA president was Bill Kiehl, fringe actor with a deep voice – did Steve Reeves, Reg Park etc. He dubbed with his hands on his buttocks. Better his than mine!”

Bill’s time as president would not have been very long-lasting as it was not too many years later that Tony Russel took over the position, while Bill continued to keep himself very busy with voice work.

One of Bill’s great strengths as a dubber was his natural talent for voice syncing. Dubbing actor/director Ted Rusoff, when interviewed for Video Watchdog in 2010, talked about his wife Carolyn de Fonseca, referring to her as a mostro (Italian complimentary term used for someone who is extremely good at something) for her ability to sync quickly, and on that note went on to mention Bill, stating: “The closest male equivalent was Bill Kuehl [sic], but he was a mostro only insofar as sync goes. He never carried you away… simply because he was too much in love with the sound of his very imposing voice.”

In the mid 1960s, Bill began to move around a lot, dividing his time between Rome and New York, and doing dubbing work in both locations. As a result, his Roman work became less prolific and ultimately came to an end when he left Rome altogether at the end of the decade.

“Bill eventually left Rome and spent the remainder of his day dubbing in New York – with Titra, I believe”, dubbing actor Rodd Dana recalled. “With that voice he could do anything. An amazing talent, and friend. We all missed him when he left Rome for New York.”

In New York, Bill’s dubbing activities continued. Among other things, he dubbed a number of Japanese monster movies, and notably provided the voice of the gangrene-ridden Union commander (Antonio Molino Rojo) in Sergio Leone’s western masterpiece The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli) in the American re-dub of Mario Bava’s cult classic Danger: Diabolik (1968), replacing the original export dub recorded in Rome. According to the 1974 article in The Morning Press, he also did radio commercials and narrated a number of documentary films such as Michael and Helga (1968), The Six Day War and The Paradise of Man. By this point, Bill had dubbed more than 350 films in Paris, Rome and New York, and the Morning Press article specifically cites him having provided the voices of Marcello Mastroianni in The Ghosts of Rome (1961), Steve Reeves in The Trojan Horse (1961), Adolfo Celi in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and Bekim Fehmiu in The Adventures of Ulysses (1968).

 

Bill provides the voice of the Union commander played by Antonio Molino Rojo in the legendary The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), dubbed in New York.

 

Bill provides narration for Michael and Helga (1968), a dramatized documentary on sex eduction.

In addition to dubbing, Bill also kept himself busy on the stage, playing John Hancock in a national tour of 1776 in 1970-71, appearing with Gloria DeHaven in a tour of Plaza Suite in 1971, making his Broadway debut with Night Watch in 1972, and doing a lot of dinner theater. According to his Playbill bio, he also made appearances with the New York Shakespeare Festival in plays like Romeo and Juliet and The Memorandum, whereas the Morning Press article mentions him doing experimental theater at Cafe LaMama, as well as appearing at Eagles Mare Summer Theatre, portraying characters like Vanya in Uncle Vanya, Alastair in The Millionairess, and Horace Vandergolder in The Merchant of Yonkers.

 

Newspaper clip showcasing Bill's performance as John Hancock in the national tour of the play 1776 (1970-71).

 

Bill starring with Gloria DeHaven in Neil Simon's comedy play Plaza Suite (1971) in which the two actors portrayed three different couples in three different acts, all set at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

 

Bill and Gloria DeHaven portraying another of the three couples in Plaza Suite (1971).

Newspaper piece from 1974 promoting Bill starring with Carol Nadell in the comedy play Any Wednesday, a dinner theater production performed at Carl Hoppl's Baldwin restaurant in Staten Island.

Bill also became active in daytime soaps; first with a one-year stint on The Edge of Night, playing the role of Fred Burn from 1971-72, and then in a recurring role as Dr. Marshall Westheimer on Ryan’s Hope from 1975-80. Interestingly, Ryan’s Hope also featured another former Rome top dubber who had recently returned to the States: Frank Latimore, who played the role of Dr. Ed Coleridge, and during their time on the show, the two old dubbing colleagues shared a few scenes together here and there.

 

 

Bill as Dr. Marshall Westheimer on the soap Ryan's Hope in 1975.

Here you can watch a video featuring a few scenes of Bill on Ryan’s Hope. In the final clip you’ll see him appearing together with Frank Latimore, who’s wearing the most ridiculous wig:

Interestingly, the 1974 article in The Morning Press briefly mentions that “last summer, Bill spent several months in Italy dubbing another film”, thus clearly indicating that Bill was still occasionally getting called back to Rome for the odd dubbing job. His base, however, remained New York, where he continued to do dubbing, as well as theater, such as Herzl on Broadway in 1976, and some occasional on-screen acting, like in the TV movie Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer (1983).

 

Bill circa early 1980s.

 

Bill appearing a revival of 1776 in 1982. When he appeared in the play during 1970-71, he played the role of John Hancock, but this time he instead took on the role of Benjamin Franklin.

 

Bill (on the left) played a small role as a lawyer in the TV movie Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer (1983).

A particular success for Bill came in 1986 when he was cast in the leading role as the King of Siam in Indianapolis’ Beef & Broads Dinner Theatre production of The King and I. Shaving his head in order to resemble Yul Brynner, who had played the part on stage for 35 years, Bill received excellent reviews for his performance. It was a role he knew by heart, having not only played it in summer stock, but he had even been the standby for Brynner during the show’s last Broadway revival and national tour.

 

Bill as the King, with Cynthia Meryl as Anna, in The King and I in 1986.

Bill looks to have taken a liking to his shaved head as he sports the same look in his last known acting appearances, which are in the comedy TV series Hey Dude, in the season 1 episode “Perfect Father” (broadcast in 1989), the TV western Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (1989) and the western TV series The Young Riders, in the season 1 episode “Bulldog” (broadcast in 1990). These three productions were all shot in Arizona, suggesting that Bill might have relocated there at some point.

 

Bill guest starring on Hey Dude in 1989.

 

 

Bill guest starring on The Young Riders in 1990.

Below you can see a little video with some scenes from Bill’s memorable guest appearance as a villain on The Young Riders:

Unfortunately, there’s no further trace of Bill after 1990. It’s not known what became of him but he is believed to be deceased.

 

Note: The identity of William Kiehl’s voice has long been a source of much confusion and misinformation. Initially, because the book Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas erroneously identifies Dan Sturkie as the actor that dubbed John Richardson in The Mask of Satan (1960), Reg Park in Hercules in the Center of the Earth (1961), Christopher Lee in The Whip and the Body (1963) and Bekim Fehmiu in The Adventures of Ulysses (1968), even though it was actually Bill who dubbed all of these roles.

To make matters even worse, a series of dubbing credits for William Kiehl have been added on the IMDb, identifying him as the voice of Mario Adorf in Execution Squad (1972), Claudio Cassinelli in What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974), Ivan Rassimov in The Tough Ones (1976), the opening narrator in Suspiria (1977) and so on. Unfortunately, none of these performances were dubbed by Bill, who had permanently left Rome by that point. Instead, all of these voices were dubbed by prolific 1970s leading man dubber Craig Hill.

It is my hope that this post will manage to once and for all set the record straight regarding the voice of William “Bill” Kiehl. For more details, you can examine the list of dubbing credits I have compiled below:

 

 

English dubbing filmography (Rome):

 

- Hercules (1958) - voice of Iphitus (Mimmo Palmara)

- Cavalier of the Devil’s Castle (1959) - voice of Captain Ugone of Collefeltro (Massimo Serato)

- The Devil’s Cavaliers (1959) - voice of Richmond (Franco Fantasia)

- Hannibal (1959) - voice of Fabius Maximus (Gabriele Ferzetti)

- The Night of the Great Attack (1959) - voice of Marco de Volterra (Sergio Fantoni)

- The White Warrior (1959) - voice of Prince Sergei Vorontsov (Gérard Herter)

- Assignment: Outer Space (1960) - voice of Ray Peterson (Rik Van Nutter)

- The Cossacks (1960) - voice of Boris Zarubin (Pierre Brice)

- Esther and the King (1960) - voice of Prince Haman (Sergio Fantoni)

- Kapo (1960) - voice of Sascha (Laurent Terzieff)

- The Mask of Satan (1960) - voice of Andrej Gorobec (John Richardson)

- Messalina (1960) - voice of Lucius Maximus (Spiros Focas)

- Revolt of the Slaves (1960) - voice of Iface (Van Aikens)

- Amazons of Rome (1961) - voice of Rasnal (Nicolas Vogel)

- Battle of the Worlds (1961) - voice of Fred Steele (Umberto Orsini)

- Drakut the Avenger (1961) - voice of Drakut (Burt Nelson)

- Duel of Champions (1961) - voice of Curiazio (Franco Fabrizi)

- Duel of the Titans (1961) - voice of Remus (Gordon Scott)

- Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961) - voice of Hercules (Reg Park)

- Hercules in the Center of the Earth (1961) - voice of Hercules (Reg Park)

- The Invincible Gladiator (1961) - voice of Rezius (Richard Harrison)

- The Mercenaries (1961) - voice of Leonetto Ardenghi (Antonio Cifariello)

- Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961) - voice of Macistus (Mark Forest)

- Romulus and the Sabines (1961) - voice of Mars (Jean Marais)

- Suleiman the Conqueror (1961) - voice of Ibrahim Pasha (Edmund Purdom)

- The Trojan Horse (1961) - voice of Aeneas (Steve Reeves)

- Ursus (1961) - voice of Mok (Rafael Luis Calvo)

- Ursus in the Valley of the Lions (1961) - voice of Ajak (Alberto Lupo)

- Ali Baba and the Sacred Crown (1962) - voice of Rashid (Franco Jamonte)

- The Avenger (1962) - voice of Aeneas (Steve Reeves)

- Caesar the Conqueror (1962) - voice of Vercingetorix (Rik Battaglia)

- Colossus of the Arena (1962) - voice of Rufo (Vittorio Sanipoli)

- The Rebel Gladiator (1962) - voice of Septimius (Carlo Delmi)

- The Shadow of Zorro (1962) - voice of Don José de la Torre / Zorro (Frank Latimore)

- Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962) - voice of Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Lee)

- The Slave (1962) - voice of Randus (Steve Reeves)

- Vulcan, Son of Jupiter (1962) - voice of Vulcan (Iloosh Khoshabe)

- Zorro at the Court of Spain (1962) - voice of Father Domenico (Amedeo Trilli)

- The Black Duke (1963) - voice of Riccardo Brancaleone (Conrado San Martin)

- Brennus, Enemy of Rome (1963) - voice of Brennus (Gordon Mitchell)

- Gentlemen of the Night (1963) - voice of Massimo Tiepolo (Guy Madison)

- Horror (1963) - voice of Roderigue De Blancheville (Gerard Tichy)

- The Magnificent Adventurer (1963) - voice of Charles V (Diego Michelotti)

- Revenge of the Musketeers (1963) - voice of Aramis (Roberto Risso)

- Samson and the Slave Queen (1963) - voice of Garcia Higueras (Massimo Serato)

- The Secret Seven (1963) - voice of Rabirio (Gerard Tichy)

- The Slave Girls of Sheba (1963) - voice of Dionigi (José Suarez)

- The Slave Queen of Babylon (1963) - voice of Onnus (Germano Longo)

- Taur the Mighty (1963) - voice of Thor (Joe Robinson)

- Thor and the Amazon Women (1963) - voice of Thor (Joe Robinson)

- The Three Swords of Zorro (1963) - voice of Juan Ortiz (Rafael Vaquero)

- The Whip and the Body (1963) - voice of Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee)

- Zorro and the Three Musketeers (1963) - voice of Athos (Roberto Risso)

- Anthar the Invincible (1964) - voice of Ganor (Mario Feliciani)

- Games of Desire (1964) - voice of Nikos (Nikos Kourkoulos)

- The Giants of Rome (1964) - voice of Claudius Marcellus (Richard Harrison)

- Gunmen of the Rio Grande (1964) - voice of Zack Williams (Gerard Tichy)

- Hercules Against Rome (1964) - voice of Hercules (Alan Steel)

- Hercules Against the Barbarians (1964) - voice of Kubilai (Ken Clark)

- Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964) - voice of Hercules (Alan Steel)

- Hercules and the Black Pirate (1964) - voice of Don Rodrigo Sanchez (Piero Lulli)

- Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964) - voice of Hercules (Reg Park)

- The Hyena of London (1964) - voice of Narrator

- The Long Hair of Death (1964) - voice of Von Klage (Umberto Raho)

- The Masked Man Against the Pirates (1964) - voice of Ramirez (Lucio De Santis)

- Sword of the Empire (1964) - voice of Marcus Quintus (Lang Jeffries)

- The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) - voice of Giovanni de' Medici (Adolfo Celi)

- Espionage in Tangiers (1965) - voice of Mike Murphy (Luis Davila)

- The Ghosts of Rome (1961; dubbed in 1965) - voice of Prince Reginaldo & Prince Federico (Marcello Mastroianni)

- The Never Never Princess (1957; dubbed circa 1965) - voice of The King (Fritz Genschow)

- Operation Atlantis (1965) - voice of George Steele (John Ericson)

- The Relentless Four (1965) - voice of Alan (Robert Hundar)

- Spy in Your Eye (1965) - voice of Boris (Gastone Moschin)

- 3 Bullets for Ringo (1966) - voice of Daniels (Ivano Staccioli)

- Our Man in Casablanca (1966) - voice of Brian Kervin (Lang Jeffries)

- Ring Around the World (1966) - voice of Fred Lester (Richard Harrison)

- Target for Killing (1966) - voice of Cloy (Demeter Bitenc)

- A Taste for Killing (1966) - voice of Gus Kennebeck (George Martin)

- Yankee (1966) - voice of Grand Cougar (Adolfo Celi)

- The Adventures of Ulysses (1968) - voice of Ulysses (Bekim Fehmiu)

- The Battle of the Damned (1969) - voice of Sgt. Dean (Luciano Catenacci)

- Cemetery Without Crosses (1969) - voice of Manuel (Robert Hossein)

- Death on High Mountain (1969) - voice of Mark Harrison (Luis Davila)

- Hour X Suicide Patrol (1969) - voice of Father Superior (Umberto Raho)

- The Ravine (1969) - voice of Alexei (Lars Bloch)

- Salt in the Wound (1969) - voice of Lt. Michael Sheppard (George Hilton)

 

 

English dubbing filmography (New York):

 

- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - voice of Captain Harper (Antonio Molino Rojo)

- Spy Today, Die Tomorrow (1967) - voice of General Birch (José Suarez)

- Danger: Diabolik (1968) - voice of Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli)

- Son of Godzilla (1967; dubbed in 1969) - voice of Dr. Kusumi (Tadao Takashima)

- Sword of Rebellion (1964; dubbed circa 1969) - voice of Count Kurt von Utrecht (Luciano Benetti)

- State of Siege (1972) - voice of Philip Michael Santore (Yves Montand)