#also where was werner klemperer and robert clary?

[overlyattachedto70s-sitcoms]

watched auto focus last night. why. did i do that to myself.

[girlactionfigure]

When the tv show "Hogan's Heroes" premiered on CBS in 1965, it faced criticism that it was making light of World War 2 and was being insensitive to those who suffered under the Nazis. 

But the fact that the cast included several Jewish actors who actually had suffered under the Nazis brought some credibility to what the show was trying to achieve.

- Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink) was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1920, and was the son of a prominent orchestra conductor, but, because they were Jewish, his family fled Germany to escape the Nazis, and Klemperer served in the U.S. Army in World War 2. When Klemperer was approached to play Colonel Klink, he agreed to do it only if the writers made Klink an idiot. He did this to honor his father.

- John Banner (Sergeant Schultz) was born Johann Banner in Austria in 1910, but fled the country following the Nazi annexation. He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war, and even posed for U.S. Military recruiting posters. Of his character on "Hogan's Heroes" Banner once said, "I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in any generation."

- Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) was born Leon Aschkenasy in Austria in 1907, and as a child he once performed before Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary. In the 1930s, Askin was arrested by the SA and later beaten severely while in the custody of the SS. He fled to the United States and served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war. Both of his parents died in the Treblinka concentration camp.

- Robert Clary (Corporal LeBeau) was born Robert Widerman in Paris in 1926, and was the youngest of 14 children. In 1942, Clary's family was arrested and deported to concentration camps. Clary eventually went to Buchenwald, where he survived by singing concerts for the SS guards. Most of the rest of his family was killed at Auschwitz. Clary was liberated on April 11, 1945. 

Robert Clary was the only major cast member still living until yesterday, November 16, 2022, when he died at the age of 96. From his arrival at the concentration camp until his death, he carried the number A5714 tattooed on his arm.

Post Script: Howard Caine, who played Major Wolfgang Hochstetter on the show, also was Jewish, but he was born in the United States. He served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Second World War.

Facebook.com/HistoriaObscurum

[kwebtv]

Robert Clary (born Robert Max Widerman; March 1, 1926 – November 16, 2022) was a French–born American actor. He is best known for his role in the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes as Corporal Louis LeBeau (1965 to 1971). He also had recurring roles in the soap operas The Bold and the Beautiful (1990 to 1992), and Days of Our Lives (1972 to 1987).

During World War II he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. He was liberated from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945.

After the war Clary returned to the entertainment business and began singing songs that not only became popular in France, but in the United States as well. Clary made his first recordings in 1948; they were brought to the United States on wire and were issued on disk by Capitol Records. He went to the U.S. in October 1949. One of Clary's first American appearances was a French-language comedy skit on The Ed Wynn Show in 1950. Clary later met Merv Griffin and Eddie Cantor. This eventually led to Clary meeting Cantor's daughter, Natalie Cantor Metzger, whom he married in 1965, after being "the closest of friends" for 15 years. Cantor later got Clary a spot on The Colgate Comedy Hour. In the mid-1950s, Clary appeared on NBC's early sitcom The Martha Raye Show and on CBS's drama anthology series Appointment with Adventure.

Clary's comedic skills were quickly recognized by Broadway, where he appeared in several popular musicals, including New Faces of 1952, which was produced as a film in 1954.In 1952, he appeared in the film Thief of Damascus which also starred Paul Henreid and Lon Chaney, Jr. In 1958, he guest-starred on The Gisele MacKenzie Show (NBC). He guest-starred on The Munsters Today (1989) as Louis Schecter, Lily's acting coach, in the episode "Green Eyed Munsters".

After Hogan's Heroes was cancelled in 1971, Clary maintained close ties to fellow Hogan's Heroes cast members Werner Klemperer, John Banner, and Leon Askin, whose lives were also affected by the Holocaust. Following the show's cancellation, he appeared in a handful of feature films with World War II themes, including the made-for-television film Remembrance of Love, about the Holocaust. Clary also appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and The Bold and the Beautiful. 

Clary was the last surviving original cast member of Hogan’s Heroes (Wikipedia)