Rick Kavanian

Born in Munich on January 26, 1971, Rick Kavanian is a German actor, comedian, author, and voice actor. His parents, both Armenian immigrants from Bucharest, emigrated to Munich in the 1950s; they now reside in New York since 1997. He attended the Luitpold-Gymnasium in Munich and speaks Armenian, Romanian, German, and English, having learned Romanian from his parents and Armenian from his grandmother.

Kavanian’s career began in 1990 when he and Michael Herbig started collaborating as authors and speakers for the German comedy radio show Langemann and Morgencrew on Radio Gong 96.3. This partnership has been central to his success, leading to popular movie comedies and parodies like Manitou's Shoe. From 1990 to 1994, he pursued studies in political science, North American history, and psychology for nine semesters in Munich and Augsburg. He further honed his skills with acting studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City from 1995 to 1996. Kavanian shared the stage with Herbig in the television comedy series Easy Bully; this program later became known as Bullyparade.

Kavanian has established himself as a successful stand-up comedian and a prolific voice actor. He voiced Austin Powers (Mike Myers) in the German dubs of Austin Powers 2 and 3, as well as Marty (Chris Rock) in Madagascar and Madagascar 2, and Luigi in Cars and Cars 2. He toured extensively with stage programs like Kosmopilot (2006-2009), Ipanema (starting autumn 2009), and later Egostrip, Dollbohrer, and Offroad (from September 2012). He was a member of the satirical show Die Klugscheißer from January 2011 and hosted a weekly radiocomedy on Bayern 3. He appeared in various roles during the filming of Bullyparade – Der Film (2016), which topped the box office charts in its first week after release on August 17, 2017. Kavanian has also participated in comedy gameshows like LOL: Last One Laughing in 2021 and competed in The Masked Singer in 2022, finishing third as “Rosty.” He won the German Animation Voice Actor Award in 2013 for his role as Ritter Rost. He currently lives in Munich with his wife Ilka, whom he married in August 2005 after a three-year relationship. Peter Sellers serves as Kavanian's personal idol.