Otto Holtenwasser is the Murphys' elderly German-Jewish neighbor. It is rumored by the neighborhood children, that he is a Nazi war criminal, when in reality, he is a Holocaust survivor. Despite this, he remains jovial and chipper and friendly to all his neighbors, though he will occasionally, bring up a sad memory from the holocaust. He is voiced by Trevor Devall.
Biography
Mr. Holtenwasser was born in Germany. Sometime prior to or during 20's , he was incarcerated in a concentration camp, during the holocaust, where many horrible things happened to him. Since the end of the holocaust, he has since moved to America, where he currently lives in the same neighborhood as The Murphy Family.
Most likely due to words getting twisted about his past, a playground rumor has the kids believing he is a Nazi and therefore are scared of him. Despite this, In "The Bleedin' in Sweden," Bill's magnet gets stuck to the numbers on Holtenwasser's house. When he reaches out to try and take it down for him, we can see the serial number tattooed on his arm. Bill thinks it is the number of people he's killed.
In "The Trough" he gives Kevin a ride home. He recounts to him how he's watched Kevin grow up throughout the years, seeing him playing around the neighborhood. He also mentions that he and his wife were the first homeowners in the subdivision. During this, Kevin notices a Star of David hanging from his rearview mirror but mistakes it for a pentagram. For this reason, Kevin (and later Bill) believe he is a Satan worshipper, even despite Frank's more accurate description of him as "a sad old man whose family was butchered in the war."
In "O Holy Moly Night," Holtenwasser is the one who finds the Murphys' dog, Major, after he ran away from the fireworks. He is also one of the guests at their Christmas party.
In "The Liar's Club," Holtenwasser joins Kevin and Frank and the rest of the neighborhood in the Murphy's basement, remarking he shared a basement with fourteen others in his lifetime. Vic likens this to a life of partying before Holtenwasser reflects it was, really, a very quiet life, "most of the time."
In "Punch Drunk", he and Ginny hook up after getting drunk during the block party. He is very regretful about it but has a hard time breaking it off with her.
Personality
Otto Holtenwasser is a friendly elderly man, who is always generous to his neighbors and especially kind to children. Although 99% of the time, Otto managed to keep a delightful and carefree demeanor, he will occasionally have a sudden change in mood, and abruptly bring up a brief, but detailed event, of what happened to him, during the holocaust, often killing the cheery vibe, that surrounds him.
Episode Appearances
- The Bleedin' in Sweden
- Saturday, Bloody Saturday
- The Trough
- O Holy Moly Night
- Heavy Sledding
- The Liar's Club
- Night Shift
- This Is Not Good
- Fight Night
- F Is For Fixing It
- Landing The Plane (cameo)
- Are You Ready For The Summer? (cameo)
- Paul Lynde to Block
- The Stinger (cameo)
- Mr. Murphy's Wild Ride
- Battle Of The Sexes
- Punch Drunk
- Summer Vacation
- It's In His Blood
- Frank The Father
- Bill Murphy's Night Off
Trivia
- Mr. Holtenwasser drove Sue to the hospital for Maureen's birth, when Frank got caught up with other predicaments.
- His serial number is 721437.
- Despite being nice to most kids, he despises Jimmy Fitzsimmons, and he's not afraid to show his darker side and curse at him, when he's being bothered by him. In "This Is Not Good", he was happy when he overheard that Jimmy got sent to boot camp.
- In the third season, Mr. Hotlenwasser unintentionally gets roped into a fling with Ginny Throater, who was still recovering from her divorce at the time.