Wissenswertes

Father of Judith Brandt and Andrej Brandt.

He is primarily known as a writer of German dubbing scripts, especially for Bud Spencer/Terence Hill films. He was also responsible for the German version of Die 2 (1971).

His German translation of Die 2 (1971) became very popular in Germany, especially because he modified dialogues to add more humour to the show. Tony Curtis, who understood German, was so impressed by Brandt's work that he asked him to write the dialogue for the next season. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled before this could happen.

Got his first voice acting job after he auditioned in a voice acting studio, which he mistook for a film studio.

Set up his own synchronising firm, Brandtfilm, in the mid-1970s.

Responsible for writing the German dialogue and as dialogue director for some of the Terence Hill-Bud Spencer films. He was much lauded for his hilarious ad lib insertion of witty German dialogue into the Roger Moore-Tony Curtis series The Persuaders.

Trained for acting at the Max-Reinhardt-Academy in Berlin.

From time to time, Rainer Brandt could not only be heard, but also seen. Berliners still remember Rainer Brandt well as Stasi chief Erich Mielke. He appeared in this role, one of his last, in the Lindenberg musical "Hinterm Horizont", which ran from 2011 to 2017 at the Theater am Potsdamer Platz and the Hamburg Operettenhaus.

Rainer Brandt wrote the cheeky dialogues for the German version of the Betles-movie "A hard day's night" and dubbed John Lennon. He said: "You can't translate English humor 1:1 into German. It doesn't work".

He appeared in 40 films between 1959 and 1986, but is arguably most well known for his work in German dubbing.

What Rainer Brandt did behind the microphone revolutionized the German cinema world in the 60s and 70s. Brandt did not stick to the often dull original texts of foreign films and simply converted them into cheeky dialog. The cool, snotty lines were created and were a hit with audiences.

He also dubbed stars such as Jean-Paul Belmondo, Franco Nero, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Oliver Reed, and spoke Elvis and John Lennon in music films. Millions of viewers laughed at phrases such as "Zum Bleistift" or "Tschüssikowski", which Brandt came up with. They are still used by Germans today.

Brandt, who founded his own dubbing company and was married to the voice actress Ursula Heyer (she was the German voice of Joan Collins alias Alexis in "Denver Clan"), worked with numerous German film distributors. They often got films from Italy and France that were mega-flops in those countries. Rainer Brandt made them successful in Germany.

The Berliner Raine Brandt got into dubbing by mistake. That was in 1954, when Rainer Brandt actually wanted to apply to a film studio and ended up in a dubbing studio by mistake. With success: two years later, Brandt began working as a voice-over artist at Defa in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Word of his talent spread. The studios in West Berlin also wanted him, he got bigger voiceover roles - and stayed.

"I have turned many a scrap into gold," said Brandt, "For example, there was a French comedy that wasn't well received at all. The producer of the German distribution company let me do it. And 'The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe' won the German film award Goldene Leinwand in 1976.".