Ben Hecker was a German actor and voice actor, born on August 30, 1948, in Cologne, Germany. He passed away on February 21, 2019. His career spanned live-action roles in television and film, as well as extensive work in dubbing, where he lent his distinctive voice to numerous characters in anime series, video games, and audio dramas.

Hecker's voice acting portfolio included several prominent anime roles for the German-dubbed versions. He provided the German voice for the protagonist J in the series Heat Guy J. In the World Masterpiece Theater series Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow, he voiced multiple characters, including the father Arthur and Dr. Deighton. His other notable anime credits included Panthro in Thundercats, Optimus Primal in Beast Wars: Transformers, Bunto in Jungle Book: Shōnen Mowgli, and Billy Bones in an adaptation of Treasure Island. He also contributed his voice to the long-running series Naruto, playing roles such as Kakuzu and the toad Gamabunta across both the television series and a film.

Beyond anime, Hecker was a prolific voice actor for live-action series and video games. He was known for dubbing Chi McBride in Dr. House and Dennis Haysbert's character David Palmer in 24. His video game work included the character Oghren in Dragon Age: Origins and Minsc in Baldur's Gate. He was also a sought-after narrator for audiobooks and a regular speaker for the popular German audio drama series Die drei Fragezeichen, performing live on stage for a large audience to mark the series' 25th anniversary. In addition to his voice work, Hecker maintained a career as a stage actor, performing at theaters in Hamburg, Berlin, and at the annual Störtebeker open-air festivals in Rügen.