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Rainer Brandt was a German actor, voice actor, voice director and he adapted scripts for dubbing. He was best known in Germany for his work in the 1970s and 1980s, when he adapted many films, especially Italian and Spanish productions, very freely and embellished the dialog with quick lines and lots of slapstick. This often led to more serious films becoming comedies. Brandt, together with his colleague Karlheinz Brunnemann, contributed to the success of certain people and series in the German-speaking world.

Biography[]

Assuming it was a film studio, Rainer Brandt introduced himself to a dubbing studio in 1954. After the director Alfred Vohrer had him audition, he got his first engagement as a voice actor. At the same time, he trained as an actor at the renowned Max-Reinhardt-Schule (Max-Reinhardt-School). He began dubbing for the east DEFA (German Film Inc., state-owned film production company of the GDR) in 1958. Larger dubbing roles followed in the West. Brandt spoke Elvis Presley in most of his films and later lent his voice to Tony Curtis and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Brandt initially worked for Karlheinz Brunnemann at Deutsche Synchron and founded his own dubbing company, now Brandtfilm, in the mid-1970s. His participation in the films of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill are his most famous endeavors.

Brandt had his breakthrough as a writer for dubbing in 1972 with the German dub of the crime series The Persuaders! with Roger Moore and Tony Curtis, whom he also dubbed in this production. The success of the series in Germany was largely due to the dubbing, which incorporated a number of jokes and puns that were not present in the original and some of which found their way into everyday German. He himself referred to this dubbing style, which deviated from the original and in some cases deliberately distorted the meaning, as Schnodderdeutsch (Snotty German).

Brandt's dubbing style soon caused a stir at ZDF, which hired him without further ado for a section in its sports program das aktuelle sportstudio. Here he put witty words into the mouths of various footballing greats.

Rainer Brandt's family is also familiar with dubbing work: his wife is the actress Ursula Heyer. His daughter Judith Brandt also works extensively in dubbing. She has now taken over the management of Brandt's dubbing studio. His son Andrej Brandt was also often heard in his father's projects, but has since retired. Rainer Brandt is not related to the equally well-known actor and voice actor Volker Brandt or the actor Matthias Brandt.

On August 7, 2024, fellow voice actor Charles Rettinghaus announced Brandt's death on Instagram.

Dubbing roles[]

Films[]

Character Dub
Unknown - head
Geschworener 1
12 Angry Men
Ramón Rojo (Per un pugno di dollari)
Ramón Roco
Esteban Rojo (Per un pugno di dollari)
Esteban Rojo
Unknown - head
John Lennon
A Hard Day's Night
Unknown - head
Amerigo Vessepi
Django Unchained
Unknown - head
Shoichi Tsukioka
Godzilla Raids Again
Unknown - head
Lee
The Magnificent Seven
Marius (Les Miserables, 1958)
Marius
Les Misérables
(West German dub)
Unknown - head
Luis Emilio Delgado
Return of the Seven
Prince Phillip (Sleeping Beauty, 1959)
Prinz Phillip
Luke Plummer (Stagecoach, 1939)
Luke Plummer
Unknown - head
Graf Lippe
Thunderball

Series[]

Character Dub
Unknown - head
Buddy Faro
Buddy Faro
Lautsprecheransager
M*A*S*H
(1st voice)
Unknown - head
Danny Wilde
The Persuaders!
Unknown - head
Burt Campbell
Soap
Unknown - head
John Cobden
Time

Production roles[]

Director[]

Films[]

Series[]

  • M*A*S*H (1st Dub)
  • The Persuaders!
  • Soap

Writer[]

Films[]

Series[]

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