Henry Djanik

Pictured: your awesome uncle.

Henry Djanik, born Arthur Djanikian (March 21, 1926 - August 18, 2008) was a French actor specialized in dubbing.

Having a unique raspy voice, very characteristic and easily recognizable, Henry was a singular voice in dubbing.

When he was a teenager, he worked in a factory, then he enlisted in the French Forces of the Interior during World War II. On his return, he met a dancer at the Opera who told him about a drama class he signed up for. This is how he obtained a few roles in films, on stage and ultimately dubbing.

As a voice actor, Henry was the regular French voice of Anthony Quinn in most of his films, but also Mr. T (notably in the A-Team), Telly Savalas (notably in Kojak), and Ernest Borgnine. He was one of the voices of Lionel Stander, Bud Spencer, Al Lettieri, Charles Bronson and Martin Benson. His roles also include Kjell Nilsson as Humungus in Mad Max 2 and Roy Chiao as Lao Che in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

In animation, he is notably the French voice of Leader-1 in GoBots, Eeyore and Owl in Winnie the Pooh, Bart in Sesame Street, Ikki in Saint Seiya and Panthro, Jackalman and Jaga in Thundercats.

His voices for Mr. T and Megatron sound extremely close. French dub Megatron got a shade awesomer as a result.

Voice roles

The Transformers

Main roles

• Megatron
• Brawn
• Devastator
• Gears
• Hoist
• Mirage
• Omega Supreme
• Onslaught
• Prowl
• Ravage (when reporting)
• Various Sweeps
• Vector Sigma

Occasional substitutions

• Beachcomber (Prime Target)
• Blaster (The Key to Vector Sigma episodes)
• Blitzwing (Prime Target)
• Bluestreak (Trans-Europe Express)
• Bombshell (Enter the Nightbird)
• Cliffjumper (The Immobilizer)
• Cosmos (Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2 and Prime Target)
• Dirge (Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1)
• Hound (Countdown to Extinction)
• Huffer (Countdown to Extinction)
• Inferno (Dinobot Island, Part 2, Kremzeek! and Prime Target)
• Motormaster (Webworld)
• Ramjet (Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2)
• Ratchet (Autobot Spike, Attack of the Autobots, Traitor and The Immobilizer)
• Rodimus Prime (Five Faces of Darkness episodes and The Rebirth, Part 2)
• Scattershot (The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1)
• Seaspray (The Golden Lagoon)
• Shrapnel (The Insecticon Syndrome and Quest for Survival)
• Sideswipe (More than Meets the Eye, Part 2 and The Immobilizer)
• Sky Lynx (Webworld)
• Streetwise (B.O.T.)
• Sunstreaker (Hoist Goes Hollywood)
• Swoop (Desertion of the Dinobots episodes)
• Tracks (Auto-Bop and The Revenge of Bruticus)
• Ultra Magnus (The Killing Jar, Dark Awakening, Surprise Party, Madman's Paradise, Webworld, Carnage in C-Minor and The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1)
• Wheeljack (Autobot Spike and The Immobilizer)

Incidentals

• Indian maharaja (The Ultimate Doom, Part 1)
• Carl Andrews (Day of the Machines)
• Pirate Captain (Dinobot Island, Part 2)
• Bosch (The Gambler)
• Football coach (Triple Takeover)
• Hector Ramirez (Prime Target)
• Furg (Auto-Bop)
• Attack of the Alien Robots director (Hoist Goes Hollywood)
• Abdul Ben-F'aisal (Trans-Europe Express)
• Lippo the Clown (The Killing Jar)
• Mara-Al-Utha (Madman's Paradise)
• Basso Profundo (Carnage in C-Minor)
• It (The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2)

As you noticed, the European French dub of The Transformers was pretty casual about maintaining voice actor continuity across episodes.

External links

• Wikipedia entry (French)
• Planète Jeunesse page (French)
• Henry Djanik on the IMDb