France's master mimic and voice of Asterix dies aged 93

The French voice of characters from Mickey Mouse to Asterix and the "Star Wars" droid C-3PO has died aged 93, voice actor Roger Carel's family said Friday.

Carel lent his mellifluous tones to a dazzling array of animated characters from Winnie the Pooh and Kermit the Frog on "The Muppet Show" to Kaa the snake in "The Jungle Book".

A legendary mimic, he also dubbed Jiminy Cricket in Disney's "Pinocchio" into French as well as Charlie Chaplin in "The Dictator".

For generations of French cinemagoers Carel personified the hugely popular American comedian Jerry Lewis, as well as Peter Sellers, Jack Lemmon and Peter Ustinov. 

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Such was his versatility that he often dubbed a number of characters in the same film.

Carel continued working well into his 80s, by which time he had clocked up more than 300 films and television series, playing his final Asterix aged 85.

His son said the actor, whose real name was Roger Bancharel, was buried Thursday in a village in western France after dying on September 11.

A former trainee Catholic priest, Carel left the seminary to be an actor, starting out alongside such later French screen legends as Anouk Aime and Michel Piccoli.

Agence France-Presse