Kenneth Mars April 4 1935 February 12 2011 was an American actor He appeared in two Mel Brooks films as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers 1967 and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein 1974 He also appeared in Peter Bogdanovichs Whats Up Doc 1972 and Woody Allens Radio Days 1987 and Shadows and Fog 1991 Mars appeared in two seasons of Malcolm in the Middle as Otto Mannkusser Franciss wellmeaning but dimwitted boss and a German immigrant who owns a dude ranch He voiced King Triton Ariels father in the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid and its sequel as well as its companion television series and the Kingdom Hearts series He also did several other animated voiceover film roles such as Littlefoots grandfather in the Land Before Time series up to 2008 and that of Professor Screweyes in Were Back A Dinosaurs Story 1993 and King Colbert Prince Corneliuss father in Thumbelina 1994 Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Mars licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia