Michael Habeck (1944-2011) was a German actor who dubbed many Muppet roles over the years, including Lew Zealand and others on Die Muppet Show, Baby Fozzie in the German dub of Muppet Babies, and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in Muppets from Space. Most notably, he dubbed the voice of Ernie on Sesamstrasse from 2001 to 2006.
Habeck's other dub credits include Oliver Hardy in dozens of Laurel and Hardy sound shorts and features (a part previously dubbed by the original German Ernie, Gerd Duwner), Danny DeVito in Taxi and such films as The Virgin Suicides, the Daleks in the 2000s version of Doctor Who, John Candy in Stripes, John Leguizamo in Spawn, Graham Stark in Revenge of the Pink Panther, Deep Roy in The Neverending Story, and Dobby the elf in two Harry Potter movies. His animation credits included various roles in the Asterix films, Dr. Nick Riviera on The Simpsons, Deep Purple in the German animated feature Felidae, Sam in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, Mr. Ages in The Secret of NIMH, Porky Pig in the later Looney Tunes dubs, Barney Rubble on The Flintstones, and Hamton on Tiny Toon Adventures.
Habeck's on-camera credits include a 1974 German TV version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the English-language film The Name of the Rose (as Berenger the monk), the 1988 TV version of The Bourne Identity (as "the fat man"), The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (with Christopher Reeve and Judd Hirsch), and the Canadian-German co-production Lexx (as the villainous Feppo) as well as appearances on Tatort and Der Kommissar. As a busy radio actor from 1966 until 2009, he was heard in the German versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Starship Titanic (from another Douglas Adams concept) and adaptations of Don Quixote (Sancho Panza), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (The King), Pinocchio, Aladdin, Zorro, and others.
Muppet dub credits[]
- Die Muppet Show (The Muppet Show): Lew Zealand, Paul Williams, other voices
- Muppet Movie: Lew Zealand
- Der Grosse Muppet Krimi (The Great Muppet Caper): Lew Zealand
- Die Muppets gehen ins Kino (The Muppets Go to the Movies)
- Die Muppets erobern Manhattan (The Muppets Take Manhattan): Lew Zealand, Ernie
- Muppet Babies: Baby Fozzie
- Das Hasenpicknick (The Tale of the Bunny Picnic): Mayor Bunnyparte
- Die Muppets feiern Weihnacht (A Muppet Family Christmas): The Snowman
- Die Muppets feiern Jim Henson (The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson): Lew Zealand, Ernie
- Muppets aus dem All (Muppets from Space): Dr. Honigtau Bunsenbrenner
- Die Muppets: Briefe an den Weihnachtsmann (A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa): Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry