French dubbing actor Benoît Allemane, known for being the voice of Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones and Brian Cox, has passed away at the age of 82. A look back at his immense career punctuated by classics.
You may not know his name, but you’ve heard his voice once (at least!). The immense French actor Benoît Allemane, particularly known for his work in dubbing, died at the age of 82 this Sunday, January 5, 2025. It was his friends who announced the sad news on the social network Facebook.
Benoît Allemane rocked the childhood of many spectators. The voice actor was mainly known for being the French voice of Morgan Freeman. He has dubbed the African-American actor in 47 films since the 1990s, including Robin Hood, prince of thieves, Merciless, The Escapees, the trilogy Batman by Christopher Nolan, Lucy, The fall of London Or Elusive.
But Benoît Allemane’s career is not limited to his dubbing of Morgan Freeman. He also lent his voice in French to James Earl Jones (in Chasing Red October), Brian Cox (Braveheart), George Kennedy (the saga Is there a cop…) or John Goodman (Transformers). We could also hear his voice in live-action films. Working Girl, Last Action Hero, Mortal Kombat, Showgirls, Mars Attacks!, Catch Me If You Can, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemenor even Planet of the Apes: Origins (non-exhaustive list).
Benoît Allemane has also voiced several characters in animated films since the 1970s. He was mainly known for being the voice of Charlie the rooster in the films featuring Looney Tunes. He was also the voice of King Richard “Lionheart” in Robin HoodZeus in HerculesPetit-Pied’s grandfather in The Little Dinosaur and the Valley of Wonders or Goliath in Gargoyles. He also played Santa Claus in television commercials and in Santa’s Apprenticeor Super-Baloo in the eponymous series.
If his career as a voice actor is particularly rich, we have also been able to see Benoît Allemane on screen, notably in My father, this hero (1991), Visitors 2 (1998), More beautiful life (René Cassagne, in 2008), Alice Nevers (2019), I accuse (2019) or more recently Bonnard, Pierre and Marthe (2023).