Inside the “Hogan’s Heroes” Cast’s Lives 55 Years After the Show Was Canceled

Meredith Wilshere, Emily KrauserSat, November 14, 2026 at 11:15 AM UTC

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Werner Klemperer, Bob Crane and John Banner on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ in 1970Credit: CBS -

Hogan’s Heroes aired on CBS from 1965 to 1971

The sitcom centered on a World War II prisoner-of-war (POW) camp

The show starred Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner and Robert Clary, among others

It’s been 55 years since Hogan’s Heroes went off the air.

The CBS sitcom centered on a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II, where a group of Allied prisoners used the camp as an operations base for sabotage and espionage activities against Germany.

Airing from September 1965 to April 1971, the show garnered 12 Emmy nominations, including two wins for actor Werner Klemperer, who portrayed Colonel Wilhelm Klink.

“It’s nice to have been connected with a show that has become sort of a classic, and I suppose it will last for a long, long, long time, and that’s okay with me,” Klemperer told Bruce Duffie in July 1985.

Klempere, Bob Crane, John Banner, Robert Clary and the rest of the cast all played significant roles in the comedy’s success. Here’s what happened to the cast of Hogan’s Heroes after it was canceled.

01 of 09

Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan

Bob Crane as Col. Robert E. Hogan on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’; Bob Crane poses for a photo in the mid-1970sCredit: Tim Boxer/Getty;CBS via Getty

Crane famously starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, for which he received two Emmy nominations.

In 1968, Crane and Hogan’s Heroes costars Klemperer, Banner and Leon Askin appeared with Elke Sommer in the film The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, set in the divided city of Berlin during the Cold War.

After Hogan’s Heroes ended in 1971, Crane appeared in two Disney films: Superdad and Gus. He also starred in a short-lived 1975 NBC series, The Bob Crane Show, and stayed active in summer stock theater.

Crane married his high school sweetheart Anne Terzian in 1949. The couple had three children before divorcing in 1970, shortly before their 21st anniversary.

That same year, Crane married his Hogan’s Heroes costar Sigrid Valdis, who played Hilda. They later welcomed a son and adopted a daughter.

In June 1978, between appearances at the Windmill Dinner Theater in Scottsdale, Ariz., Crane was bludgeoned to death. His murder remains unsolved. He was 49.

02 of 09

Werner Klemperer as Colonel Wilhelm Klink

Werner Klemperer as Col. Wilhelm Klink on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ in 1965Credit: CBS via Getty

Klemperer was best known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink.

After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he began performing on Broadway in 1947.

Klemperer appeared in several films during his early acting career, including The Wrong Man (1956), Houseboat (1958) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). He also landed roles on shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason and Gunsmoke.

When the role of Colonel Klink came along in 1965, Klemperer “was stunned when they said it was a comedy.” He added, “I made it very clear that if Klink was ever the hero, I would leave the show.”

The actor won two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Hogan’s Heroes in 1968 and 1969, respectively.

Klemperer told PEOPLE in 1996, “I don’t see Hogan’s Heroes as a comedy. I see it as a satirical parody. We were parodying human weaknesses and strength.”

In the 1980s, the Germany-born actor launched a second career as a narrator of live operas and concerts with major orchestras around the country.

In 1993, he reprised the role of Klink in an episode of The Simpsons, titled “The Last Temptation of Homer,” as Homer’s guardian angel and spirit guide.

Klemperer was married four times. He and his second wife, Susan Dempsay, welcomed two children. The actor wed his fourth wife, actress Kim Hamilton, in 1997, and they remained together until Klemperer’s death in 2000. He was 80.

03 of 09

John Banner as Sergeant Hans Schultz

John Banner as Sergeant Hans Schultz on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ in 1965Credit: CBS via Getty

Banner portrayed Sergeant Hans Schultz, who frequently feigned ignorance of espionage activities with the catchphrase, “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!” As the series went on, the phrase changed to, “I know nothing, nothing!”

Born in Stanislau, Austria-Hungary (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), Banner was performing with a troupe in Switzerland when Hitler’s army invaded his homeland. After the Nazis annexed Austria during the 1938 Anschluss, Banner escaped by emigrating from Europe to the U.S. in 1939.

Banner joined a theater group of fellow refugees at N.Y.C.’s Music Box Theater. Even though he didn’t speak English, he was selected as master of ceremonies for the 1939 Broadway musical revue From Vienna.

Between 1950 and 1970, the actor appeared in more than 40 feature films and made over 70 television appearances, including his run on Hogan’s Heroes.

After Hogan’s Heroes was canceled in 1971, he starred in the short-lived sitcom The Chicago Teddy Bears. His last acting appearance was a 1972 episode of The Partridge Family.

Banner retired to France with his Paris-born second wife. He died of a burst abdominal aortic aneurysm hemorrhage when visiting friends in Vienna in January 1973. He was 63.

04 of 09

Robert Clary as Corporal Louis LeBeau

Robert Clary as Corporal Louis LeBeau on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ in 1965Credit: CBS/Getty

Clary, born Robert Max Widerman, starred as Corporal Louis LeBeau on Hogan’s Heroes.

When he was a teenager, Clary and his family were taken to Auschwitz, where his parents were killed in a gas chamber on the day of their arrival, per The Hollywood Reporter. He was kept captive for 31 months and credited his love of performing with helping him survive the concentration camp.

Clary waited nearly four decades to speak publicly about his Holocaust experience. In his 2001 memoir From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes, the actor revealed how starring in the sitcom helped him to talk about his time in the concentration camp.“I had to explain that [Hogan’s Heroes] was about prisoners of war in a stalag, not a concentration camp, and although I did not want to diminish what soldiers went through during their internments, it was like night and day from what people endured in concentration camps,” he wrote, per THR.

In addition to Hogan’s Heroes, Clary starred on the soap operas Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless, and he had guest appearances on shows like Fantasy Island and The New Adam-12.

Prior to Hogan’s Heroes, he appeared on the big screen in Ten Tall Men (1951) and Thief of Damascus (1952), as well as on Broadway in New Faces of 1952 and Seventh Heaven (1955). After, he acted in The Hindenberg (1975).

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Clary was married to Natalie Cantor, the daughter of entertainer Eddie Cantor, until her death in 1997. Clary died in 2022 at age 96.

05 of 09

Richard Dawson as Corporal Peter Newkirk

Richard Dawson with a contestant while hosting ‘Family Feud’ in 1980Credit: Bob D'Amico /American Broadcasting Companies via Gett

Born in England as Colin Lionel Emm, Richard Dawson’s comedy career took off in 1965 when he was cast as pick-pocketing prisoner of war Corporal Peter Newkirk in Hogan’s Heroes, a role he played until 1971.

Five years later, his television career took a turn when he landed a hosting gig on Family Feud. The English actor won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1978 for Best TV Game Show Host. The show’s initial run ended in 1985.

“I’m generally on the side of the contestant, and I don’t mind being blatant about it,” he told PEOPLE in 1994 when he returned to the game show for one season. “People think I’m being a smart-ass, a cynic, but I’ve always rooted for the underdog.”

Aside from his entertainment career — which included appearances on the ’70s Match Game and in Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s 1987 hit, The Running Man, his last credited role — Dawson was a family man who met wife Gretchen Johnson while she was a Feud contestant.

The couple had one daughter together, Shannon. Dawson also had two sons from his first marriage to actress Diana Dors.

Dawson died from complications related to esophageal cancer in 2012 at the age of 71.

06 of 09

Larry Hovis as Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter

Larry Hovis as Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’Credit: Alamy

After another actor backed out of the TV show, Larry Hovis was cast as Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter, a POW in a German prison camp who was an expert on explosives.

In the mid-1970s, Hovis made appearances on the game show Match Game and the comedy series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In alongside his Hogan’s Heroes castmate Dawson. Years later, he produced and was a regular panelist on the game show Liar’s Club.

Hovis also had guest spots on shows like Adam-12 and Alice. From 1979 to 1981, he toured in the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas as Melvin P. Thorpe.

He teamed up with Gary Bernstein to form Bernstein-Hovis Productions, which produced game shows such as Anything for Money and the short-lived Yahtzee, a TV version of the dice game.

Beginning in the 1990s, Hovis taught drama at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas (now Texas State University-San Marcos).

Hovis died in 2003. He was 67 years old.

07 of 09

Ivan Dixon as Staff Sergeant James “Kinch” Kinchloe

Ivan Dixon as Staff Sergeant James “Kinch” Kinchloe on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’Credit: Alamy

Dixon was best known for his role on Hogan’s Heroes as Sgt. James “Kinch” Kinchloe, a communications specialist who understood German. Dixon played Kinch from 1965 to 1970 and was the only member of the longtime cast who did not stay for the entire series run.

During his time on the sitcom, Dixon was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in the 1973 TV movie The Final War of Olly Winter.

After Hogan’s Heroes, the Harlem native worked significantly behind-the-camera from 1970 to 1993, including working as a television director on The Waltons, The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Magnum, P.I. and The A-Team. His first feature film as director was the blaxploitation thriller Trouble Man (1972).

Also a producer, Dixon worked to increase opportunities for Black actors through Negro Actors for Action, an organization that has since disbanded, according to The New York Times.

In 1954, he married Berlie Ray. The couple had four children. According to Doris, Dixon was most proud of his acting in the 1964 independent film Nothing but a Man and directing and producing The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), per UCLA.

Dixon died in 2008 at the age of 76.

08 of 09

Cynthia Lynn as Fräulein Helga

Cynthia Lynn as Fräulein Helga on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’Credit: Alamy

Born Zinta Valda Zimilis in Riga, Latvia, Lynn came to the U.S. with her family after World War II.

On Hogan’s Heroes, she portrayed Colonel Klink’s secretary, Fräulein Helga, during the first season and returned for a few appearances later in the series’ run.

Lynn also appeared on shows like Surfside 6, Dr. Kildare, Mission: Impossible, The Odd Couple and The Six Million Dollar Man. Her last role was reportedly a 1975 episode of Harry O.

Lynn died in 2014 after suffering from hepatitis. She was 76.

09 of 09

Sigrid Valdis as Fräulein Hilda

John Banner as Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz and Sigrid Valdis as Fräulein Hilda on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ in 1966Credit: CBS via Getty

Born in Bakersfield, Calif., Valdis was best known for portraying Fräulein Hilda on Hogan’s Heroes.

She started her acting career in the late 1950s. Valdis appeared on several television shows, including The Wild Wild West and Kraft Television Theatre.

Before landing the role of Hilda, she appeared on one episode of Hogan’s Heroes as a different character, Colonel Klink’s secretary. She ultimately replaced Lynn beginning on season 2.

Her first marriage was to fashion businessman George Gilbert Ateyeh in 1958. They shared a daughter.

Valdis’ second marriage was to her Hogan’s Heroes costar Crane, and their wedding took place on set on Oct. 16, 1970. Dawson served as Crane’s best man.

Following the birth of their son Robert Scott “Scotty” Crane in 1971, Valdis retired from acting. They also shared a daughter, Ana. In 1998, Valdis joined the cast of her son’s syndicated weekly sketch-comedy radio show Shaken, Not Stirred.

Valdis died of lung cancer in 2007, per the Los Angeles Times. She was 72.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”