Roger Carel (born Roger Bancharel, August 14, 1927, Paris, France - September 11, 2020, Aigre, Charente, France) was a French actor, the Gaulic equivalent of Mel Blanc, who supplied the voices of Kermit the Frog, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (Walbec Bunsen), The Swedish Chef (outside of tracks with Henson's voice undubbed) and The Announcer in Le Muppet Show. He later dubbed Old Major in Animal Farm.
In a career spanning four decades, Carel lent his voice to a variety of iconic characters, dubbing the likes of Mickey Mouse, ALF, Wally Gator and Winnie the Pooh, and originating the role of comic book character Asterix in a series of animated features, as well as on radio. Live action dubbing credits include Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, Hercule Poirot in two different incarnations (Peter Ustinov in Death on the Nile and David Suchet in Poirot), and C3PO in the Star Wars franchise.
He died on September 11, 2020, in Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis). His death was announced by his son on September 18 at Parisien.fr. Following an error in the interpretation of the Parisien.fr article, many media mistakenly announced that he died in Aigre, the city on which the municipality of Villejesus depends, where he was buried in the family vault, in the strictest privacy. His son testified: “We did not wish to communicate about his death, to save his wife, who is deeply upset. We didn’t want her to be bombarded with messages from people in the profession, or journalists, her son said. His funeral took place Thursday in the strictest family privacy. "
