Kenneth Mars Dies at 75

NY Times: Kenneth Mars, an actor best known for his over-the-top performance as a German playwright in the original movie version of “The Producers,” died on Saturday at his home here. He was 75.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said.

In “The Producers” (1968), written and directed by Mel Brooks, Mr. Mars played Franz Liebkind, a Nazi enthusiast whose play “Springtime for Hitler” is the basis for a scheme by two conniving showmen (Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder) to bilk investors by putting on a sure-fire Broadway flop.