Javier Franquelo was a highly respected Spanish actor of dubbing, born in Málaga in 1934, whose career spanned over five decades until his passing in 2025. He began his artistic journey in radio serials and on the theatrical stage, eventually becoming a pivotal figure in the voice-over industry in Spain.

Franquelo's extensive filmography includes a wide array of roles in animation, television, and film. He is widely recognized as the definitive Spanish voice of several iconic characters. Among his most famous roles was Mr. Burns in The Simpsons, a character he voiced for 22 years starting from the show's twelfth season, after previously being the first voice of Kent Brockman. He also lent his voice to Professor Hubert Farnsworth in Futurama from its very beginning. In live-action dubbing, he was the regular Spanish voice for actor Patrick Stewart, most notably as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series. His work extended to family entertainment as the voice of Triki, the Spanish version of Cookie Monster, on Barrio Sésamo, as well as Papa Smurf in the live-action Smurfs films and Gran Pabbie in Frozen and its sequel.

In addition to these prominent roles, Javier Franquelo contributed his voice to numerous other productions, including the specific anime-related roles of Tom in the classic series Pollyanna and Charon in Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic. His credits also span a vast range of other animated and live-action series, such as various roles in the Pokémon anime, Sonic X, and Castle in the Sky, as well as live-action series like Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory. He was also a prolific voice in the video game industry, providing voices for titles such as Star Wars: Battlefront II as Emperor Palpatine, the Harry Potter games, and Far Cry.

Franquelo's career was marked by recurring collaborations with the works of Matt Groening, providing voices across both The Simpsons and Futurama. In 2019, his immense contribution to the industry was recognized with the Premio Actúa, the highest honor for a dubbing actor in Spain, awarded by the Fundación AISGE for his talent, ethics, and contribution to the audiovisual world.