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Peter Capell in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Peter Capell (1912-1986) was a German actor who dubbed the voice of Pops on Die Muppet Show (the German version of The Muppet Show) and in the German dubs of The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan. He dubbed Uncle Deadly in his debut in Folge 115 and the World's Oldest Fraggle in the early seasons of Die Fraggles (Fraggle Rock).
Born and raised in Germany, Capell moved to the United States of America in 1933, working on stage and in radio in New York City. He was frequently heard as Nazis in wartime broadcasts such as Words at War and This Is Our Enemy, and served as producer on The Voice of America. Later radio credits included recurring roles on assorted soap operas, including Wendy Warren and the News (FBI Agent Anton Kemp), Front Page Farrell (Nick), Portia Faces Life (Dr. Byron), and When a Girl Marries (Officer Connolly). He also made many appearances on the 1950s science-fiction series Dimension X and its spin-off X Minus One, notably as Dr. Horst in Ray Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven," which he reprised in four different broadcasts of the tale.
Capell returned to Germany in 1955 but still appeared frequently in English-language films, including Paths of Glory, Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (with Liselotte Pulver) and Fedora (with José Ferrer and Frances Sternhagen), and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (with Gene Wilder), as the eerie tinker encountered by Charlie at the factory gate. Capell played witness Dr. Geuter in the 1959 TV version of Judgement at Nuremberg and later revoiced Karl Swenson (in the same role) in the German dub of the film. Other TV work included guest parts on The Vikings and Blue Light (with Robert Goulet), the 1970 TV movie Hauser's Memory (with Leslie Nielsen), an appearance in the miniseries Holocaust (with David Warner and Fritz Weaver), and a semiregular role as the heroine's grandfather Captain König on 1981's The Smuggler. German TV included episodes of Derrick, Der Alte, Das Kriminalmuseum, and the German Father Brown series.
Apart from his Muppet work, Capell's German dub credits include George Burns in Going in Style, John Carradine in The Howling, Colin Bennett as Zarquon the Prophet in the TV version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Richard Farnsworth in Anne of Green Gables, and various guest roles on Star Trek. Cartoon roles included the March Hare on the Alice in Wonderland anime and Rickety Rick on Dr. Snuggles. His final role was in a 1986 German radio version of Tristram Shandy.