Kenneth Mars

Kenneth Mars, sometimes credited as Ken Mars, was an American actor.

Mars died on February 12, 2011 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 75.

Other roles
A large part of Mars's acting ability was playing eccentric German film characters, such as Franz Leibkind in The Producers and Young Frankenstein, and Otto Mannkusser in the fourth and fifth seasons of Malcolm in the Middle.

Mars was the voice of King Triton, the father of the titular character in Disney's 1989 animated feature The Little Mermaid. He continued the role in the 1990s television spin-off on the Disney Channel, and the 2000 direct-to-video film sequel, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, and the 2006 video game Kingdom Hearts II. Due to his illness, he was replaced with Jim Cummings for The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning in 2008.

From 1994 to 2008, he was also the voice of Grandpa Longneck in The Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels and television series, which incidentally, seemed to coincide with the end of the franchise. That is until a new film popped up in 2016, with the non-soundalike Barry Bostwick succeeding the late Mars.