Ulrich Frank was a German actor and voice actor, known for his extensive work in dubbing foreign films and television series for the German-speaking market. Born on February 2, 1943, in Strasbourg, Frank initially trained as an actor under Hans Baur and began performing on stage in 1963. His theatrical repertoire included the title role in Leonce und Lena and the part of Sherlock Holmes in a production of The Hound of the Baskervilles. In the mid-1980s, he relocated to Munich, where he shifted his focus primarily to voice acting, a field in which he would become a prominent figure.

Frank’s career in voice acting spanned several decades and included hundreds of roles across movies, animation, and video games. He is perhaps best remembered as the original long-standing German voice of Ned Flanders on the animated series The Simpsons, a role he performed for 25 years from 1991 until his retirement in 2016. His other notable voice roles in animation include Fungus in Monsters, Inc., Mr. Soil in A Bug’s Life, Van in Cars, and the lawyer Talon Labarthe in Ratatouille. In the realm of anime and Japanese animation, he was the German voice of the character Gecko Moria in the series One Piece. He also lent his voice to several characters in the Transformers franchise, including Cliffjumper and Wreck-Gar. Beyond animation, Frank was the German voice of Detective Hercule Poirot, as portrayed by David Suchet, in the later series of Agatha Christie’s Poirot for DVD releases, and provided voices for actors such as William H. Macy, Michael Jeter, and Gary Oldman in various films.

Throughout his career, Frank was known for a distinct voice that brought character to a wide array of roles. He passed away on April 17, 2017, in Gauting, Germany.