Col. Klink--what was this guy's story? Seems like his father--a famous conductor named Otto Klemperer had Nazi leanings that shadowed Werner's career. Either way--I loved him as Klink in "Hogan's Heroes".
ANy other thoughts on some of the Hogans Heroes cast who have gone on to that great POW Camp in the sky?
I heard Werner on a radio talk show one morning. This guy was seriously funny. What a tremendous wit!
I don't know anything about him personally.
He played the leader of gang robbing a casino. Real bastard in that part. In real life he was kind to Hogan fans but never understood it and said "it was a TV show and a bad one at that".
Loved Hogan's Heros! Colonel Klink and Sgt Schultz were awesome!
I read that Klemperer was half Jewish and had to flee to the US with his family. Other random stuff...
1. He died of cancer in 2000 and was cremated and his asheds are scattered at sea.
2. Between 1970-1978 he owned the Mercedes Benz 6.9 V8 initially intended for Roman Polanski.
3. John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) was also Jewish and spent time in an actual concentration camp during the war. He died of an abdominal hemmorage on his 63rd birthday in Vienna in 1973. He is buried in a cemetary in Mauer Vienna.
I love Wikipedia
Werner Klemperer was a classically-trained actor who played Colonel Wilhelm Klink in the TV series Hogan's Heroes, winning two Emmys for the role. Hogan's Heroes was loosely based on Billy Wilder's 1953 movie Stalag 17 and ran from 1965 to 1971. Klemperer, citing his Jewish heritage, was sensitive to criticism from those who thought that comedy set in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp was tasteless, and only agreed to play Klink if he could portray him as a fool who lived in terror of his superiors and was constantly outwitted by the prisoners.
Klemperer appears as Klink on the right in this publicity photo. Bob Crane (center) played Col. Hogan and John Banner (left) played Sgt. Schultz. Klemperer was born in Cologne, Germany on 22 March, 1920. He was the son of noted German conductor Otto Klemperer who fled Germany with his family in 1935, two years after Adolf Hitler came to power. Werner made his stage debut in the 1940 production of 'The Trojan Horse' opposite Jeff Chandler and then served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After his discharge, he made his Broadway debut in 'Heads or Tails' (1947) and was featured with Tallulah Bankhead in 'Dear Charles' (1955). While continuing his work as a stage actor, Klemperer also appeared in a number of movies, most notably in Stanley Kramer's 1961 film 'Judgment at Nuremberg'. Klemperer also appeared in 'Houseboat' (1958), 'Youngblood Hawk' (1964), and 'Ship of Fools' (1965). He was then cast as Col. Klink in 1965 and, in the years after the cancellation of Hogan's Heroes, continued to work steadily, notably as a conductor and as a narrator with many major U.S. symphony orchestras. He was an accomplished concert violinist. Klemperer died on December 7, 2000 in New York. He was 80.
He used to show up on Politically Incorrect from time to time. Very intelligent man.
Originally Posted by Cherry Malotte
I agree Cherry. The Politically Incorrect episodes Werner was on were some of the best. Very quick wit.
My brother had the pleasure of seeing him at the bar at Sardis in New York City a few years before his death. When my brother ordered his drink he told the bartender to give Werner "a schnapps."
Werner said comically that he doesn't drink schnapps....But got another drink and chatted with my brother for a half hour.
Nice, nice, man by all accounts.
Your autographed pic is awesome. Is that a publicity still?
Cool pic!!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote