Rene Auberjonois (Chef Louis) [1940-2019]

[NeoSuperBlissey]

Rene Auberjonois, who voiced Chef Louis in 1989's "The Little Mermaid," has passed away at age 79 of lung cancer, per this article from The Hollywood Reporter.

While perhaps best known for roles such as Clayton Endicott III on the 1980-86 sitcom "Benson" or as Constable Odo in the 1993-99 science fiction series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," Auberjonois also appeared in such Disney-owned films as "M*A*S*H," "Inspector Gadget" and in an uncredited voice cameo as Phillipe Renaldi in 2001's "The Princess Diaries."

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't believe I know him any other way than through The Little Mermaid. Looking at his Wikipedia page, he was on Murder, She Wrote, but I didn't know it (other TLM stars, Buddy Hackett and Kenneth Mars, were also on MSW). He gave a great, comic performance though and the film wouldn't be the same without it, imo. It's a song / character that's often overlooked, but hilarious as anything. He was funnier than, say, Buddy Hackett or a lot of the comic relief in other films of the Renaissance such as TLK, Hunchback, Pocahontas, and Tarzan. I remember they made "shorts" of the character chasing Sebastian on Bonkers and/or Marsupilami. The character's scene in the DTV sequel is hilarious, too, actually.

Rest in peace.