Lothar Blumhagen

Lothar Blumhagen (16 July 1927 – 10 January 2023) was a German actor, especially known as a voice actor. He began as a stage actor, in ensembles in East Berlin and West Berlin. He was often the German voice of British gentleman characters, such as Roger Moore's, beginning in 1971 with Brett Sinclair in the television series The Persuaders!. He voiced roles by Christopher Plummer from Dragnet in 1987 to Knives Out in 2020. Born in Leipzig, he made his stage debut there in 1947. He was a stage actor in Leipzig, Halle and Berlin, where he was a member of the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater Berlin from 1954 to 1956. He made his debut in film in the 1954 Hexen, and played more roles for the DEFA. In 1956, he moved to West Berlin, becoming a member of the ensembles of the Schillertheater and the Schlossparktheater. He was awarded the title Berliner Staatsschauspieler in 1970. He rarely played in film and television after his DEFA work, but participated in the documentary Zeugin der Zeit – Käthe Kollwitz in 1985 and in the West–East co-production Boundaries of Time: Caspar David Friedrich in 1986.

Blumhagen became known as a voice actor. He became one of the leading voice actors in Germany, with roles in more than 600 films. His voice was described as dark, raspy and unmistakable ("dunkles, raues Timbre war unverkennbar") and was often chosen to represent British gentleman. He was the German voice for Christopher Plummer, in roles from Reverend Jonathan Whirley in Dragnet in 1987, Arthur Case in Inside Man in 2006, to Harlan Thrombey in the comedy Knives Out in 2020. He was often the German voice of Roger Moore, in roles such as Lord Brett Sinclair, the German version (Die 2) of the action-comedy series The Persuaders!. He was the voice of Jonathan Higgins, played by John Hillerman, in the crime series Magnum, P.I. He became the voice of Christopher Lee (The Skull), Alan Rickman , Erland Josephson, and of Andreas Katsulas as Ambassador G'Kar in Babylon 5. In the 1976 Die Unbestechlichen, the German version of All the President's Men, he was the voice of Deep Throat, a leading role characterised exclusively by his voice.

Blumhagen died in a hospital in Berlin on 10 January 2023, aged 95.