Gerd Duwner (November 15, 1925, Berlin, Germany - May 10, 1996, Berlin, Germany) was a German comedian and voice actor who dubbed the voice of Ernie on Sesame Street), from the first episode until his death. He also made three on-camera guest appearances. He played a police detective (kommissar) investigating mysteries in the 1980 episodes Folge 0643 (repeated as Folge 1270) and Folge 0654. At the time, Duwner was a regular as the kommissar known only as "Der Dicke" (the Fat One) on the crime series Direktion City (1976-1982).
In 1981, Duwner appeared as himself in Folge 0755 where a game show (hosted by Robert Lembke) tries to identify his occupation, as the voice of Ernie.
Duwner, together with Wolfgang Kieling (voice of Bert) originated the duo on German language TV. His voice was so closely associated with Ernie that, in 1994, when original puppets of Ernie and Bert were stolen from a touring Muppets exhibit, Duwner made a radio appeal on January 25, asking the thieves to return the puppets. The strategy brought results by March, when radio station Antenna Tueringen received an anonymous phone call to return the puppets, and accepted them through a middleman the next day. He even dubbed Ernie in other movies which used his voice only in passing, such as Where's Poppa? or Short Circuit 2 (with Ernie replacing background audio of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood).
Duwner voiced the Skeksis Ornamentalist in The Dark Crystal and Bean Bunny in The Muppet Christmas Carol, as well as dubbing Raymond Serra as Police Chief Sterns in the Creature Shop-effects films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.
He was a staple in cartoons, with roles in several Disney dubs (notably Goofy in the shorts, Horace Badun in the re-dub of One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Bernard in The Rescuers), Snakely on Kimba the White Lion, Captain Cully in The Last Unicorn, and Barney Rubble on The Flintstones. On TV, he dubbed Ken Curtis on Gunsmoke, Victor Sen Yung on Bonanza, and David Doyle on Charlie's Angels. As an on-camera actor, Duwner appeared in the 1971 German Love Bug clone Superbug (as racing inventor James Butler). He was a regular foil on Dieter Hallervorden's Die Didi-Show (1989, as the director), and had guest roles on Percy Stuart (with Claus Wilcke) and Tatort.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973-1996 | 
|
Ernie | Sesamstrasse |
| 1994 | 
|
George Merry | Der Pagemaster - Richies Fantastische Reise |
| 1993 | 
|
Ernie | Silvester auf der Sesamstrasse |
| 1993 | 
|
Bean Bunny | Die Muppets-Weihnachtsgeschichte |
| 1990 | 
|
Ernie | Die Muppets feiern Weihnacht |
| 1988 | 
|
Louie | Oliver & Co. |
| 1985 | 
|
Nasrilla | Die Wuzzles |
| 1985 | 
|
Ernie | Bibos Abenteuerliche Flucht |
| 1983 | 
|
Ornamentalist | Der Dunkle Kristall |
| 1980 | 
|
Barney Geröllheimer | Familie Feuerstein |
| 1980 | 
|
Horace Badun | 101 Dalmatiner |
| 1970-1980 | 
|
Goofy Goof | Micky Maus und Freunde |
| 1978 | 
|
Ernie | Weihnachten in der Sesamstraße |
| 1977 | 
|
Bernard | Bernard und Bianca - Die Mäusepolizei |
| 1963 | 
|
Sir Kay | Die Hexe und der Zauberer |
| 1960-1963 |
|
Barney Geröllheimer | Familie Feuerstein |
| 1962 | 
|
Sgt. Tibs | 101 Dalmatiner |