Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom set in a German prisoner of war (POW) camp during World
War II, that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to
July 4, 1971, on the CBS network. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an
international crew of Allied prisoners running a Special Operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the incompetent commandant
of the camp, and John Banner was the inept sergeant-of-the-guard,
Hans Schultz.
The series was popular during its six-season run. In a way, it was a mixing
of the prisoner of war (POW) movies like The
Great Escape and The
Password is Courage (with POWs, escapes, tunnels, German
guards) and the James Bond phenomenon (with spies, espionage,
sabotage, beautiful women) that was so very popular in the 1960s.
In 2013, creators Bernard Fein, through his estate, and Albert S. Ruddy acquired the sequel and other
separate rights to Hogan's Heroes from Mark Cuban via arbitration, and a movie based on
the show has been planned.[1]
Currently, reruns of the series can be watched on American television through
the Me-TV
network.
CAST:
Allies
Colonel Hogan (bob crane)
Colonel Hogan United States Army Air Forces Colonel
Robert E. Hogan (Bob Crane), senior ranking POW officer, is the
leader of the group. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but considers Cleveland, Ohio, his home, though it is mentioned
in "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party" that he is from Indianapolis.[6] He
commanded the 504th Bomb Group, which (after Hogan was shot down) was
transferred back to the States to work with the Manhattan Project. He was shot down while on a
raid on Hamburg in an operation masterminded by Luftwaffe Colonel Biedenbender (James
Gregory), who studied Hogan's tactics in order to defeat him and
was promoted to general for doing so (though Hogan gets even by framing
Biedenbender for bombing a German refinery, thereby ruining Biedenbender's
military career).[6] In
contrast to Colonel Klink, Hogan graduated third in his military class.
As General Biedenbender stated, Hogan has a flair for the overcomplex,[6] and he
seems to thrive on difficult if not impossible missions, which is often shown in
the series. Many of the covert operations shown are highly complex, but due to
Hogan's care in planning and the skill of his staff, they are usually successful
(at least in the end). A U.S. Navy submarine commander in a first-season episode
states: "You know, Hogan, if you weren't one of their prisoners, I think you'd
be one of ours", due to his less-than-conventional methods of accomplishing his
goals. After Hogan tricks Leslie Smythe-Beddoes (Ruta Lee) into letting him make a scandalous
broadcast over German radio, Der Führer (Adolf Hitler), who was listening to the
broadcast, telephones her boss Colonel Sitzer (Alan Oppenheimer) and tells him: "If this man
[Hogan] ever tries to escape, let him".[7] And to
say the least, he is a master of manipulation and routinely plays Klink and
Schultz like a violin. However, once in a while Klink shows he isn't entirely
dimwitted and at least initially gets the better of Hogan.
Ever the ladies' man, Hogan has a kissing relationship with Klink's
secretaries (Hilda and Helga) and is romantic with most of the civilian women
with whom he comes in contact throughout the series. When impersonating German
officers, Hogan will often refer to himself as "Hoganmüller", "Hoganmeister",
"Hoganheimer", "Hoganburg", or similar names, always using his surname for part
of the German name.
Staff Sergeant Kinchloe
United States Army Air Forces Staff
Sergeant James (a.k.a. Ivan) "Kinch" Kinchloe (Ivan
Dixon) is primarily responsible for radio, telephone, and other forms of electronic
communications. Although outranked by TSgt. Carter, Kinch acts as second in command in
Hogan's crew. This was a large step for a 1960s television show to have an African-American actor identified in such a
manner. In the fifth episode of the first season,[10] when
it appeared Colonel Crittendon (Bernard Fox) would be the new senior Prisoner of
War officer, Hogan introduces his men and cites Kinchloe as Chief of Operations.
A talented mimic, Kinchloe easily imitates German officers speaking over the
radio or telephone. When Hogan needs a strictly audio impression of Adolf
Hitler, the men generally agree that Kinchloe is the better
choice for the job over Technical Sergeant Carter.[11]
Kinch is from Detroit, where he had worked for the telephone
company and before the war fought in the Golden Gloves boxing matches. In "The Softer They
Fall", General Burkhalter (Leon Askin) makes reference to the Jesse
Owens victories during the 1936 Summer Olympics and Adolf Hitler's
displeasure that a black American won medals over German athletes.
Kinchloe knocks out the heavyweight champ of Stalag 13, Battling Bruno (Chuck
Hicks), while Burkhalter is in the camp. Kinchloe winds up fighting Bruno again,
drawing out the fight in a delaying action while Hogan and the others accomplish
another sabotage mission. Upon completion of the mission, Hogan yells to Kinch
to end the fight, and Kinch knocks Bruno out with one punch, whereupon Hogan
throws in the towel and surrenders the fight to prevent the obvious disaster of
a black POW's defeating the "master race's finest boxer". At the end of the
episode, Kinch says to Klink that he'd like to tell Bruno he is still the
champion of Stalag 13, "as soon as he wakes up."[12]
As a black man in the middle of wartime Germany, Kinchloe's ability to
participate in some undercover activities outside of the camp is limited. In one
operation that takes the protagonists outside of Germany, Kinchloe plays the
role of a doorman at a nightclub in Paris in order to get close to the owner
Carol Dukes, known by her stage name Kumasa (Barbara McNair), who had been a high school
classmate of his (a character most likely modeled upon Josephine Baker).[13] In
"The Prince from the Phone Company", he impersonates an African prince (also
played by Ivan
Dixon) and reluctantly has to shave off his trademark moustache.
He has a romantic involvement with the prince's wife, Princess Yawanda (Isabel
Cooley), a black woman from Cleveland, presumably an OSS agent who finds the
easiest way to keep tabs on the prince is to continue to play the role of his
wife.[14]
Sergeant Baker
Following Dixon's departure from the show after season five, the producers
replaced his character in the sixth season with another Black actor, Kenneth Washington, as United States Army Air Forces Sergeant Richard Baker. The tasks assigned to
Sergeant Baker are almost identical to those of Staff Sergeant Kinchloe, but
with limited voice impersonations of Germans. However, with Kinchloe's
departure, Newkirk is elevated to the Chief of Operations/Chief of Staff role
(despite being subordinate to both Sgt. Baker and TSgt. Carter by rank) during
the sixth season. As with Kinchloe, Baker's race limits his sabotage duties
outside of Stalag 13, but he is able to contribute vital support to the missions
assigned to him by Col. Hogan. The details of Kinch's departure were never
explained on the show.
As of 2013, Washington is one of two surviving cast members of Hogan's Heroes
(the other being Robert Clary.)
Technical Sergeant Carter
United States Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant Andrew J. Carter (Larry
Hovis) is in charge of ordnance and bomb-making. He shows a great talent in chemistry and can produce formulas, chemicals,
and intricate and explosive devices as needed, although in the first season
episode "The Scientist",[15] he
claims to know very little chemistry. (This inconsistency was probably meant to
heighten the tension in the plot.) He loves to talk about making and using
explosives and, while bright and enthusiastic at his specialties, Carter is
otherwise rather dimwitted and a bit of a bumbler (such as blowing himself up
while mixing chemicals together or easily forgetting instructions). In one
episode, after the blowing-up a train, he could not remember the way back to
Stalag 13. Carter is also called upon to impersonate German officers and, most
convincingly, Adolf Hitler.[16]
Carter, as Hitler, responds to a group of German officers saying "Heil Hitler"
with "Heil Me". In several episodes, Carter's Hitler fooled Sgt. Schultz, Col.
Klink, and even Gen. Burkhalter.
Carter was a boy scout who formerly worked at a drug store in
Muncie, Indiana and hopes to become a pharmacist
after the war. He is an American Indian; his Sioux name is Little Deer Who Goes Swift and
Sure Through Forest, and he once won a snowman-building contest in Bullfrog,
North
Dakota.[5] His catchphrase is, "You got it Boy [correcting
himself] Colonel". His awards include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Commendation Medal, and Good Conduct Medal.[citation needed]
Unlike most of the rest of the "Heroes", Carter is not much of a "ladies'
man". After he receives a "Dear John Letter" from his hometown sweetheart,
Mary Jane, he requests permission to escape to try to win her back but is asked
to complete one last solo mission before escaping. After the mission, he meets a
German woman who charms him enough to feel losing Mary Jane isn't the end of the
world. When he returns, he cavalierly says to his comrades before leaving the
camp for a date: "Women are like a war; there's always another one coming
along."[17] In
real life, Hovis was married and refused to remove his wedding ring while
filming the show as the bachelor Sergeant Carter. Thus, Carter is usually shown
wearing gloves, and his left hand is rarely shown in the show.[citation needed]
As a Technical sergeant, Carter is the senior non-commissioned officer and, after Colonel
Hogan, the senior prisoner regularly depicted on the program. Despite this, he
is never shown to exercise any real authority over the other prisoners, as Staff
Sergeant Kinchloe is Hogan's Chief of Staff. Furthermore, Corporals Newkirk and
LeBeau routinely "rib" him about his naïveté, and he comes across as almost
childlike in his innocence. However, Hogan's men admire and respect TSgt. Carter
and are very loyal to him. Newkirk and Kinchloe even call him "Andrew" on
occasion.[citation needed]
In the black-and-white pilot episode ("The Informer"),[18]
Carter is a Lieutenant and not a prisoner of Stalag (Camp) 13. He is an escaped
prisoner from another POW camp temporarily brought into the Stalag 13 so Hogan
and his men can arrange for him to get out of Germany with civilian clothes and
fake identity papers, and for a submarine to pick him up. After the pilot his
character is made a sergeant and a regular member of the cast
Corporal LeBeau
Free French Air Force Corporal Louis "Louie" LeBeau (Robert
Clary) is a Master Chef who is passionate about his cooking
and a notoriously patriotic Frenchman. He often generally refers to Germans in
uniform and Nazis as "pigs", and specifically as "Boche" or "dirty Boche", while the other
prisoners call them Krauts (which were traditionally meant to be
derogatory remarks towards World War I and World War II German soldiers).
Schultz and Klink refer to LeBeau as "Cockroach". LeBeau gets along better with
the guard dogs than any other prisoner, and so is often seen using the tunnel
entrance located in the kennel. Though highly claustrophobic, because of his
small size he can hide in small spaces, such as the safe in Colonel Klink's
office, box crates, or a dumbwaiter. LeBeau also uses his talent as a
singer to help the "Heroes" in several episodes. (Clary began his career as a
singer.) As a stereotypical French lover, LeBeau tries to be romantic with a
number of the women with whom he comes in contact during the series.[citation needed]
In numerous episodes, LeBeau uses his cooking skills to get Klink out of
various jams with his superiors or simply so Klink can impress guests. In
exchange for LeBeau's cooking a dinner or banquet, Hogan bargains for extra
privileges (which is usually just a ruse to gain access to Klink's guests).
LeBeau also bribes Schultz with food, especially his famous apple strudel. In the first two seasons
(excluding the pilot), LeBeau made the uniforms and suits, although this job
increasingly went to Newkirk. In fact, by the fifth season episode "Gowns by
Yvette,"[19] it is
suggested that LeBeau cannot even sew a stitch, though he claims creative
responsibility for the dress Newkirk eventually sews; but later, he once again
began to sew and mend the clothing alongside Newkirk. In the show, LeBeau
suffers from hemophobia and is seldom seen without his scarf.
He also may have been the first POW at Stalag 13. In one episode, it was shown
that he couldn't remember his serial number, although it might have been an act.
The farthest he got was "H12497".[citation needed]
Robert Clary is a French Jew who was in the Nazi concentration camps Ottmuth and Buchenwald and still has his serial number
tattooed on his arm. After the death of Richard Dawson in 2012,[citation needed] Clary is
the only member of the original cast who is still living.
Corporal Newkirk
Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk (British-American actor Richard Dawson) is the group's conman, magician, pick-pocket, card sharp, forger, bookie, tailor, lock picker, and safe
cracker. He does numerous impersonations of German officers as
well as a voice imitation of Adolf Hitler, and on one occasion a great
imitation of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, during the war. On a number of
occasions Newkirk dresses as a woman to fool the Germans as part of a mission.
However, as a bit of a Casanova, he tries to romantically hook up with most of
the women ("birds", as he calls them) he comes in contact with throughout the
series.
As a skilled tailor, Newkirk is in charge of making or altering uniforms,
civilian clothes, and other disguises as needed for missions or for prisoners
from other camps they're trying to help get out of Germany. He also uses his
skills as pick-pocket, lock picker, and safe
cracker on many occasions, particularly to open Klink's office
safe. As a card
sharp, Newkirk helps to make sure Schultz loses a lot and is
forever in need of bribe money from the prisoners to pay his gambling loses
(Schultz usually pays his debt or gets money to gamble by giving the prisoners
information). Newkirk is called "the Englander" by Schultz[citation needed] and even
by "Klink" in some of the episodes.[citation needed] He is
also often teamed with Carter, and his irritation at Carter's bumbling antics
and dimwittedness is used for comedic effect.
This series marked Dawson's second appearance on American television (he had
earlier appeared on an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1963). Dawson
auditioned for the role of Hogan but was told he did not sound American enough.
In the version translated for broadcast in Germany, Newkirk's pronounced British
accent was replaced by a simulation of stuttering.
Richard Dawson has stated in an interview that he had initially used a Liverpool
accent for the Newkirk character, but had been told by Mike Dann (the
then-president of CBS) to switch it to a Cockney accent, as Dann felt the Liverpool accent
was not accessible to the American television audience. Dawson expressed his
vindication upon seeing a marquee for the first Beatles film A
Hard Day's Night in 1964.[
Germans
Colonel Klink[edit]
Kommandant Oberst (Colonel) Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) is an old-line Luftwaffe officer of aristocratic (Junker) Prussian descent, but is inept, a bit dimwitted,
cowardly, and often clueless if not rather gullible. He was born circa 1895[20] in Leipzig,
though he refers to Düsseldorf, where he attended the Gymnasium (high school) (graduating 43rd in his
class), as his home town.[21] After
failing the entrance exams to study law or medicine,[21] he
received an appointment from Kaiser Wilhelm II to a military academy, through
the influence of his uncle, the Bürgermeister's barber, and graduated 95th
in his class – the only one who has not risen to the rank of general. He has
been stuck at the rank of colonel for 20 years with an efficiency rating a
few points above "miserable". However, when questioned by Colonel Hogan, Colonel
Klink admits that many of his higher-ranking classmates have been killed in
action or shot by Hitler.[22] The
nearest he ever comes to becoming a General is when Hogan tricks Klink and the
German General Staff into thinking Klink has been personally chosen by Hitler to
be the new Chief of Staff just as the D-Day invasion begins. When faced with a decision
whether to move the German reserves to Normandy or not, Klink can only order
more champagne.[11]
Bernard Fox as Colonel Crittendon (left) and
Werner Klemperer as Klink
He has fencing armor in his dining room and in his office a pompous coat
of arms on the wall (only briefly seen in one episode).[which?] In another
episode, when he thinks he is going to be rich, he claims his 500-year-old name
will finally have some money as well. He always wears a monocle (which often reflects an image of the
round studio lights) on his left eye, usually carries a riding crop, and walks with a stoop. In a few
episodes Klink is seen wearing the Pour le Mérite (or The Blue Max), Iron
Cross, Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe, and the Parachutist Badge.[citation needed]
A veteran aviator of the First World War, Klink is content to live out the
end of his military career in the relative comfort and safety of a prison camp
commandant's billet, although in one episode he wished he were piloting a Heinkel
bomber again and wants his old bomb group back. However, his piloting his skills
are suspect. On August 4, 1917, during World War I, he panicked and crashed,
which left his passenger with a permanent limp. His passenger was none other
than "The Blue Baron" Mannfred von Richter (a parody of Manfred
von Richthofen "The
Red Baron", who did not survive the First World War). The Blue
Baron, by then a general, visits Klink in "Will the Blue Baron Strike Again?"
and reminds Klink of the injury.[23] But
according to Burkhalter and Schultz, Klink is too afraid to fly.[24]
With his innate skills as a conman, Hogan is able to very easily manipulate
Klink through a combination of appealing to his vanity through a lot of
flattery, chicanery, and playing with Klink's fears of being sent to the frigid
and bloody Russian Front with the Soviet
Union, or of being arrested by the Gestapo. Klink is so easily manipulated by Hogan
that Klink doesn't even notice, though occasionally he wonders who is really in
command of Stalag 13. Part of this running gag also has Schultz and others wondering
who is really running the camp. When Hogan really wants to appeal to Klink's
vanity he calls Klink the "Iron Colonel" or the "Iron Eagle". Klink is for the
most part portrayed as a vain, bumbling and, incompetent career officer rather
than as an evil German or ardent Nazi.[citation needed]
Colonel Klink received the Citation of Merit-Second Class (fictitious)
from General Stauffen during World War II. The general visits Stalag 13 to get a
briefcase from Hogan filled with explosives, in a plot to assassinate Adolf
Hitler, all under the unsuspecting eyes of Klink.[25] This
is typical of the scenarios in which Hogan will entangle Klink. A running
gag is that Klink gets doused with water or covered with snow for
comedic effect. Another running gag is that Klink is an inept violinist, and is
only able to play the U.S. Army Air Forces Song. (In real life, Werner Klemperer was a skilled violinist, son of
the famous orchestra conductor Otto Klemperer, and a skilled orchestra conductor
in his own right.[26]
Colonel Klink is constantly annoyed by Hogan and his fellow prisoners' regularly
playing with the World War I Pickelhaube of an Uhlan lancer regiment that sits
on Klink's desk. (Hogan and sometimes Schultz also pilfer cigars from a box
sitting next to the Pickelhaube). A third running gag is that Klink often
forgets to give the Hitler salute at the end of a phone call, and
instead usually asks, "What's that?" and then says, "Yes, of course, Heil
Hitler".[27]
General Burkhalter tells Klink, a perpetual bachelor, to help him be promoted
to general he needs to marry into an important family. Klink initially thinks
that Burkhalter is referring to his lovely niece, but Klink finds out that it is
actually Burkhalter's homely and gruff sister, the widow Frau Linkmeyer, whom
Burkhalter is trying to marry off and whom Klink is scared of.[28] Klink
narrowly escapes from this fate several times with the help of Colonel Hogan.
Klink later learns that the two other Stalag commandants under Burkhalter's
command also narrowly escaped marriage to Frau Linkmeyer. In "War Takes a
Holiday", Klink tries to flatter Schultz, a businessman in civilian life, hoping
to be hired as a bookkeeper with Schultz's toy company now that he falsely
thinks the war is over.
Sergeant Schultz
John Banner as Schultz with Bob Crane as
Colonel Hogan.
Not to be confused with Private Schulz.
Hauptfeldwebel (Senior Master Sergeant) Hans
Georg Schultz (John Banner), serial number 23781, is Klink's
bumbling, inept and a bit dimwitted, but affable if not lovable, 300-pound Sergeant of the Guard who is forever taking small
bribes from the prisoners with whom he is overly friendly. The bribes are
usually in the form of chocolate from Red
Cross packages or LeBeau's delicious cooking often in exchange
for information. His main goal is to avoid trouble and as long as he does, or at
least gets out of trouble, he doesn't overly concern himself too much about the
prisoners' activities. However, when Schultz is confronted by evidence of the
prisoners' suspicious activities ("monkey business" as he calls it) and feels he
must report them to Klink, Hogan will use some means — such as reminding Schultz
of all the bribes he would have to report to Klink, convince Schultz he
shouldn't reporting anything. When a prisoner is missing, Hogan will assure him
that the prisoner will be back. Although Schultz repeatedly tries to avoid
reporting anything or at least having Klink find out, if he does report what is
going on to Klink, Hogan and his men are usually able to cover up the problem
before Klink arrives. Sometimes Schultz, not wanting to deal with the situation,
will simply look the other way, repeating "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know
nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, simply "I see
nothing–NOTHING!"). This eventually became one of the main catchphrases of the series and probably the most
widely used by fans of the show. Just the same, if Schultz is found to be
derelict in his duty, he could easily be court-martialed, sent to the Russian
Front to fight in the bitter cold or not shot as a traitor for
his apparent complicity. When Schultz does get into trouble (usually on account
of the prisoners) Hogan, as with Klink, tries to find a way to clear Schultz if
for no other reason to avoid having him replaced with a more competent soldier
who isn't as easily manipulated. Though generally shown as being borderline
incompetent, he has (on occasions) proven his mettle, as can be seen in episodes
such as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London",[30] where
he catches Hogan assisting another man attempting to escape; he even goes so far
as to stand up to Hogan, moving him along at gunpoint.
Like Colonel Klink, he is a veteran of World War I. His hometown is Heidelberg, and in civilian life he is the owner
of Germany's biggest and most successful toy manufacturing company, The Schatzi
Toy Company.[29] With
the onset of war, Schultz was involuntarily recalled to military duty and lost
control of his toy factory as it was converted to military use. He has a wife,
Gretchen (played by Barbara Morrison) and five children whom he sees
only during infrequent leave. However, a few times he is unfaithful to his wife,
for instance in "Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari" he dates a woman who, as it
turns out, is a secret Gestapo agent.[31]
LeBeau once refers to Schultz as a Social Democrat, a party which the Nazis banned in 1933, and Schultz on several
occasions is shown to be very disgusted by Hitler in particular and the Nazis in
general. In one episode he mentions how much he preferred having a kaiser rule Germany and his whole attitude can be
summed up by his statement that "When it comes to war, I don't like to take
sides". Schultz is also a bad gambler, frequently playing cards with the
prisoners, and usually losing - although much of this is caused by Newkirk
fixing the games in order to get information from Schultz (in exchange for the
money he lost or for money to gamble). He also likes to drink a bit especially
whenever free liquor is available, but above all Schultz loves to eat - a
whole lot - especially LeBeau's exquisite cooking. He is described by Klink
as being "in his forties."[24] In
real life, Banner was in his late fifties. When the prisoners make fun of
Schultz he calls them "Jolly Jokers".
Schultz carries a Krag-Jørgensen rifle, which he never keeps loaded
and tends to misplace or even hand to the POWs when he needs to use both hands
(he then might say "Give me back my gun, or I'll SHOOT!"). He never wears the
chin-strap on his helmet and needs glasses to read[32] He
wears a fictitious version of the Iron Cross (4th Grade) awarded by General Kammler
(Whit
Bissell), a friend whom Schultz mentored during World War I and
addresses Schultz by first name, and whom Schultz addresses as Lieutenant Kammler (the rank he held during World
War I).[33]
Recurring characters
Fräulein Helga (Cynthia Lynn, 1965 to 1966) and Fräulein Hilda (Sigrid Valdis, 1966 to 1971) served as the
secretaries of Colonel Klink. Both Fräulein Helga and Fräulein Hilda were
portrayed as having ongoing flirting and kissing relationships with Colonel
Hogan. Both assist Hogan and his men in various ways, including providing
tidbits of information, access to official papers or equipment or at least
remaining indifferent towards their suspicious conduct in exchange for a warm
kiss or some other form of affectionate gesture from Hogan. In the pilot
episode,[18] Helga
works as manicurist in the prisoners' underground barber shop, but it is only in
the pilot episode that it is suggested her cooperation with the prisoners is all
that extensive. Eventually, during the run of the TV series, it is implied that
Hilda and Hogan have a running romance, especially when she hints at getting a
diamond engagement ring in exchange for her help. Sigrid Valdis and Bob Crane
were married in 1970 on the show's set in Culver City, Calif., where all of the interior
and some of the exterior scenes of Hogan's Heroes were filmed. Nearly all
of the crewmen and women, and all the cast members of the TV series were
present, and Richard Dawson served as the best man to the groom.
War II, that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to
July 4, 1971, on the CBS network. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an
international crew of Allied prisoners running a Special Operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the incompetent commandant
of the camp, and John Banner was the inept sergeant-of-the-guard,
Hans Schultz.
The series was popular during its six-season run. In a way, it was a mixing
of the prisoner of war (POW) movies like The
Great Escape and The
Password is Courage (with POWs, escapes, tunnels, German
guards) and the James Bond phenomenon (with spies, espionage,
sabotage, beautiful women) that was so very popular in the 1960s.
In 2013, creators Bernard Fein, through his estate, and Albert S. Ruddy acquired the sequel and other
separate rights to Hogan's Heroes from Mark Cuban via arbitration, and a movie based on
the show has been planned.[1]
Currently, reruns of the series can be watched on American television through
the Me-TV
network.
CAST:
Allies
Colonel Hogan (bob crane)
Colonel Hogan United States Army Air Forces Colonel
Robert E. Hogan (Bob Crane), senior ranking POW officer, is the
leader of the group. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but considers Cleveland, Ohio, his home, though it is mentioned
in "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party" that he is from Indianapolis.[6] He
commanded the 504th Bomb Group, which (after Hogan was shot down) was
transferred back to the States to work with the Manhattan Project. He was shot down while on a
raid on Hamburg in an operation masterminded by Luftwaffe Colonel Biedenbender (James
Gregory), who studied Hogan's tactics in order to defeat him and
was promoted to general for doing so (though Hogan gets even by framing
Biedenbender for bombing a German refinery, thereby ruining Biedenbender's
military career).[6] In
contrast to Colonel Klink, Hogan graduated third in his military class.
As General Biedenbender stated, Hogan has a flair for the overcomplex,[6] and he
seems to thrive on difficult if not impossible missions, which is often shown in
the series. Many of the covert operations shown are highly complex, but due to
Hogan's care in planning and the skill of his staff, they are usually successful
(at least in the end). A U.S. Navy submarine commander in a first-season episode
states: "You know, Hogan, if you weren't one of their prisoners, I think you'd
be one of ours", due to his less-than-conventional methods of accomplishing his
goals. After Hogan tricks Leslie Smythe-Beddoes (Ruta Lee) into letting him make a scandalous
broadcast over German radio, Der Führer (Adolf Hitler), who was listening to the
broadcast, telephones her boss Colonel Sitzer (Alan Oppenheimer) and tells him: "If this man
[Hogan] ever tries to escape, let him".[7] And to
say the least, he is a master of manipulation and routinely plays Klink and
Schultz like a violin. However, once in a while Klink shows he isn't entirely
dimwitted and at least initially gets the better of Hogan.
Ever the ladies' man, Hogan has a kissing relationship with Klink's
secretaries (Hilda and Helga) and is romantic with most of the civilian women
with whom he comes in contact throughout the series. When impersonating German
officers, Hogan will often refer to himself as "Hoganmüller", "Hoganmeister",
"Hoganheimer", "Hoganburg", or similar names, always using his surname for part
of the German name.
Staff Sergeant Kinchloe
United States Army Air Forces Staff
Sergeant James (a.k.a. Ivan) "Kinch" Kinchloe (Ivan
Dixon) is primarily responsible for radio, telephone, and other forms of electronic
communications. Although outranked by TSgt. Carter, Kinch acts as second in command in
Hogan's crew. This was a large step for a 1960s television show to have an African-American actor identified in such a
manner. In the fifth episode of the first season,[10] when
it appeared Colonel Crittendon (Bernard Fox) would be the new senior Prisoner of
War officer, Hogan introduces his men and cites Kinchloe as Chief of Operations.
A talented mimic, Kinchloe easily imitates German officers speaking over the
radio or telephone. When Hogan needs a strictly audio impression of Adolf
Hitler, the men generally agree that Kinchloe is the better
choice for the job over Technical Sergeant Carter.[11]
Kinch is from Detroit, where he had worked for the telephone
company and before the war fought in the Golden Gloves boxing matches. In "The Softer They
Fall", General Burkhalter (Leon Askin) makes reference to the Jesse
Owens victories during the 1936 Summer Olympics and Adolf Hitler's
displeasure that a black American won medals over German athletes.
Kinchloe knocks out the heavyweight champ of Stalag 13, Battling Bruno (Chuck
Hicks), while Burkhalter is in the camp. Kinchloe winds up fighting Bruno again,
drawing out the fight in a delaying action while Hogan and the others accomplish
another sabotage mission. Upon completion of the mission, Hogan yells to Kinch
to end the fight, and Kinch knocks Bruno out with one punch, whereupon Hogan
throws in the towel and surrenders the fight to prevent the obvious disaster of
a black POW's defeating the "master race's finest boxer". At the end of the
episode, Kinch says to Klink that he'd like to tell Bruno he is still the
champion of Stalag 13, "as soon as he wakes up."[12]
As a black man in the middle of wartime Germany, Kinchloe's ability to
participate in some undercover activities outside of the camp is limited. In one
operation that takes the protagonists outside of Germany, Kinchloe plays the
role of a doorman at a nightclub in Paris in order to get close to the owner
Carol Dukes, known by her stage name Kumasa (Barbara McNair), who had been a high school
classmate of his (a character most likely modeled upon Josephine Baker).[13] In
"The Prince from the Phone Company", he impersonates an African prince (also
played by Ivan
Dixon) and reluctantly has to shave off his trademark moustache.
He has a romantic involvement with the prince's wife, Princess Yawanda (Isabel
Cooley), a black woman from Cleveland, presumably an OSS agent who finds the
easiest way to keep tabs on the prince is to continue to play the role of his
wife.[14]
Sergeant Baker
Following Dixon's departure from the show after season five, the producers
replaced his character in the sixth season with another Black actor, Kenneth Washington, as United States Army Air Forces Sergeant Richard Baker. The tasks assigned to
Sergeant Baker are almost identical to those of Staff Sergeant Kinchloe, but
with limited voice impersonations of Germans. However, with Kinchloe's
departure, Newkirk is elevated to the Chief of Operations/Chief of Staff role
(despite being subordinate to both Sgt. Baker and TSgt. Carter by rank) during
the sixth season. As with Kinchloe, Baker's race limits his sabotage duties
outside of Stalag 13, but he is able to contribute vital support to the missions
assigned to him by Col. Hogan. The details of Kinch's departure were never
explained on the show.
As of 2013, Washington is one of two surviving cast members of Hogan's Heroes
(the other being Robert Clary.)
Technical Sergeant Carter
United States Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant Andrew J. Carter (Larry
Hovis) is in charge of ordnance and bomb-making. He shows a great talent in chemistry and can produce formulas, chemicals,
and intricate and explosive devices as needed, although in the first season
episode "The Scientist",[15] he
claims to know very little chemistry. (This inconsistency was probably meant to
heighten the tension in the plot.) He loves to talk about making and using
explosives and, while bright and enthusiastic at his specialties, Carter is
otherwise rather dimwitted and a bit of a bumbler (such as blowing himself up
while mixing chemicals together or easily forgetting instructions). In one
episode, after the blowing-up a train, he could not remember the way back to
Stalag 13. Carter is also called upon to impersonate German officers and, most
convincingly, Adolf Hitler.[16]
Carter, as Hitler, responds to a group of German officers saying "Heil Hitler"
with "Heil Me". In several episodes, Carter's Hitler fooled Sgt. Schultz, Col.
Klink, and even Gen. Burkhalter.
Carter was a boy scout who formerly worked at a drug store in
Muncie, Indiana and hopes to become a pharmacist
after the war. He is an American Indian; his Sioux name is Little Deer Who Goes Swift and
Sure Through Forest, and he once won a snowman-building contest in Bullfrog,
North
Dakota.[5] His catchphrase is, "You got it Boy [correcting
himself] Colonel". His awards include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Commendation Medal, and Good Conduct Medal.[citation needed]
Unlike most of the rest of the "Heroes", Carter is not much of a "ladies'
man". After he receives a "Dear John Letter" from his hometown sweetheart,
Mary Jane, he requests permission to escape to try to win her back but is asked
to complete one last solo mission before escaping. After the mission, he meets a
German woman who charms him enough to feel losing Mary Jane isn't the end of the
world. When he returns, he cavalierly says to his comrades before leaving the
camp for a date: "Women are like a war; there's always another one coming
along."[17] In
real life, Hovis was married and refused to remove his wedding ring while
filming the show as the bachelor Sergeant Carter. Thus, Carter is usually shown
wearing gloves, and his left hand is rarely shown in the show.[citation needed]
As a Technical sergeant, Carter is the senior non-commissioned officer and, after Colonel
Hogan, the senior prisoner regularly depicted on the program. Despite this, he
is never shown to exercise any real authority over the other prisoners, as Staff
Sergeant Kinchloe is Hogan's Chief of Staff. Furthermore, Corporals Newkirk and
LeBeau routinely "rib" him about his naïveté, and he comes across as almost
childlike in his innocence. However, Hogan's men admire and respect TSgt. Carter
and are very loyal to him. Newkirk and Kinchloe even call him "Andrew" on
occasion.[citation needed]
In the black-and-white pilot episode ("The Informer"),[18]
Carter is a Lieutenant and not a prisoner of Stalag (Camp) 13. He is an escaped
prisoner from another POW camp temporarily brought into the Stalag 13 so Hogan
and his men can arrange for him to get out of Germany with civilian clothes and
fake identity papers, and for a submarine to pick him up. After the pilot his
character is made a sergeant and a regular member of the cast
Corporal LeBeau
Free French Air Force Corporal Louis "Louie" LeBeau (Robert
Clary) is a Master Chef who is passionate about his cooking
and a notoriously patriotic Frenchman. He often generally refers to Germans in
uniform and Nazis as "pigs", and specifically as "Boche" or "dirty Boche", while the other
prisoners call them Krauts (which were traditionally meant to be
derogatory remarks towards World War I and World War II German soldiers).
Schultz and Klink refer to LeBeau as "Cockroach". LeBeau gets along better with
the guard dogs than any other prisoner, and so is often seen using the tunnel
entrance located in the kennel. Though highly claustrophobic, because of his
small size he can hide in small spaces, such as the safe in Colonel Klink's
office, box crates, or a dumbwaiter. LeBeau also uses his talent as a
singer to help the "Heroes" in several episodes. (Clary began his career as a
singer.) As a stereotypical French lover, LeBeau tries to be romantic with a
number of the women with whom he comes in contact during the series.[citation needed]
In numerous episodes, LeBeau uses his cooking skills to get Klink out of
various jams with his superiors or simply so Klink can impress guests. In
exchange for LeBeau's cooking a dinner or banquet, Hogan bargains for extra
privileges (which is usually just a ruse to gain access to Klink's guests).
LeBeau also bribes Schultz with food, especially his famous apple strudel. In the first two seasons
(excluding the pilot), LeBeau made the uniforms and suits, although this job
increasingly went to Newkirk. In fact, by the fifth season episode "Gowns by
Yvette,"[19] it is
suggested that LeBeau cannot even sew a stitch, though he claims creative
responsibility for the dress Newkirk eventually sews; but later, he once again
began to sew and mend the clothing alongside Newkirk. In the show, LeBeau
suffers from hemophobia and is seldom seen without his scarf.
He also may have been the first POW at Stalag 13. In one episode, it was shown
that he couldn't remember his serial number, although it might have been an act.
The farthest he got was "H12497".[citation needed]
Robert Clary is a French Jew who was in the Nazi concentration camps Ottmuth and Buchenwald and still has his serial number
tattooed on his arm. After the death of Richard Dawson in 2012,[citation needed] Clary is
the only member of the original cast who is still living.
Corporal Newkirk
Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk (British-American actor Richard Dawson) is the group's conman, magician, pick-pocket, card sharp, forger, bookie, tailor, lock picker, and safe
cracker. He does numerous impersonations of German officers as
well as a voice imitation of Adolf Hitler, and on one occasion a great
imitation of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, during the war. On a number of
occasions Newkirk dresses as a woman to fool the Germans as part of a mission.
However, as a bit of a Casanova, he tries to romantically hook up with most of
the women ("birds", as he calls them) he comes in contact with throughout the
series.
As a skilled tailor, Newkirk is in charge of making or altering uniforms,
civilian clothes, and other disguises as needed for missions or for prisoners
from other camps they're trying to help get out of Germany. He also uses his
skills as pick-pocket, lock picker, and safe
cracker on many occasions, particularly to open Klink's office
safe. As a card
sharp, Newkirk helps to make sure Schultz loses a lot and is
forever in need of bribe money from the prisoners to pay his gambling loses
(Schultz usually pays his debt or gets money to gamble by giving the prisoners
information). Newkirk is called "the Englander" by Schultz[citation needed] and even
by "Klink" in some of the episodes.[citation needed] He is
also often teamed with Carter, and his irritation at Carter's bumbling antics
and dimwittedness is used for comedic effect.
This series marked Dawson's second appearance on American television (he had
earlier appeared on an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1963). Dawson
auditioned for the role of Hogan but was told he did not sound American enough.
In the version translated for broadcast in Germany, Newkirk's pronounced British
accent was replaced by a simulation of stuttering.
Richard Dawson has stated in an interview that he had initially used a Liverpool
accent for the Newkirk character, but had been told by Mike Dann (the
then-president of CBS) to switch it to a Cockney accent, as Dann felt the Liverpool accent
was not accessible to the American television audience. Dawson expressed his
vindication upon seeing a marquee for the first Beatles film A
Hard Day's Night in 1964.[
Germans
Colonel Klink[edit]
Kommandant Oberst (Colonel) Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) is an old-line Luftwaffe officer of aristocratic (Junker) Prussian descent, but is inept, a bit dimwitted,
cowardly, and often clueless if not rather gullible. He was born circa 1895[20] in Leipzig,
though he refers to Düsseldorf, where he attended the Gymnasium (high school) (graduating 43rd in his
class), as his home town.[21] After
failing the entrance exams to study law or medicine,[21] he
received an appointment from Kaiser Wilhelm II to a military academy, through
the influence of his uncle, the Bürgermeister's barber, and graduated 95th
in his class – the only one who has not risen to the rank of general. He has
been stuck at the rank of colonel for 20 years with an efficiency rating a
few points above "miserable". However, when questioned by Colonel Hogan, Colonel
Klink admits that many of his higher-ranking classmates have been killed in
action or shot by Hitler.[22] The
nearest he ever comes to becoming a General is when Hogan tricks Klink and the
German General Staff into thinking Klink has been personally chosen by Hitler to
be the new Chief of Staff just as the D-Day invasion begins. When faced with a decision
whether to move the German reserves to Normandy or not, Klink can only order
more champagne.[11]
Bernard Fox as Colonel Crittendon (left) and
Werner Klemperer as Klink
He has fencing armor in his dining room and in his office a pompous coat
of arms on the wall (only briefly seen in one episode).[which?] In another
episode, when he thinks he is going to be rich, he claims his 500-year-old name
will finally have some money as well. He always wears a monocle (which often reflects an image of the
round studio lights) on his left eye, usually carries a riding crop, and walks with a stoop. In a few
episodes Klink is seen wearing the Pour le Mérite (or The Blue Max), Iron
Cross, Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe, and the Parachutist Badge.[citation needed]
A veteran aviator of the First World War, Klink is content to live out the
end of his military career in the relative comfort and safety of a prison camp
commandant's billet, although in one episode he wished he were piloting a Heinkel
bomber again and wants his old bomb group back. However, his piloting his skills
are suspect. On August 4, 1917, during World War I, he panicked and crashed,
which left his passenger with a permanent limp. His passenger was none other
than "The Blue Baron" Mannfred von Richter (a parody of Manfred
von Richthofen "The
Red Baron", who did not survive the First World War). The Blue
Baron, by then a general, visits Klink in "Will the Blue Baron Strike Again?"
and reminds Klink of the injury.[23] But
according to Burkhalter and Schultz, Klink is too afraid to fly.[24]
With his innate skills as a conman, Hogan is able to very easily manipulate
Klink through a combination of appealing to his vanity through a lot of
flattery, chicanery, and playing with Klink's fears of being sent to the frigid
and bloody Russian Front with the Soviet
Union, or of being arrested by the Gestapo. Klink is so easily manipulated by Hogan
that Klink doesn't even notice, though occasionally he wonders who is really in
command of Stalag 13. Part of this running gag also has Schultz and others wondering
who is really running the camp. When Hogan really wants to appeal to Klink's
vanity he calls Klink the "Iron Colonel" or the "Iron Eagle". Klink is for the
most part portrayed as a vain, bumbling and, incompetent career officer rather
than as an evil German or ardent Nazi.[citation needed]
Colonel Klink received the Citation of Merit-Second Class (fictitious)
from General Stauffen during World War II. The general visits Stalag 13 to get a
briefcase from Hogan filled with explosives, in a plot to assassinate Adolf
Hitler, all under the unsuspecting eyes of Klink.[25] This
is typical of the scenarios in which Hogan will entangle Klink. A running
gag is that Klink gets doused with water or covered with snow for
comedic effect. Another running gag is that Klink is an inept violinist, and is
only able to play the U.S. Army Air Forces Song. (In real life, Werner Klemperer was a skilled violinist, son of
the famous orchestra conductor Otto Klemperer, and a skilled orchestra conductor
in his own right.[26]
Colonel Klink is constantly annoyed by Hogan and his fellow prisoners' regularly
playing with the World War I Pickelhaube of an Uhlan lancer regiment that sits
on Klink's desk. (Hogan and sometimes Schultz also pilfer cigars from a box
sitting next to the Pickelhaube). A third running gag is that Klink often
forgets to give the Hitler salute at the end of a phone call, and
instead usually asks, "What's that?" and then says, "Yes, of course, Heil
Hitler".[27]
General Burkhalter tells Klink, a perpetual bachelor, to help him be promoted
to general he needs to marry into an important family. Klink initially thinks
that Burkhalter is referring to his lovely niece, but Klink finds out that it is
actually Burkhalter's homely and gruff sister, the widow Frau Linkmeyer, whom
Burkhalter is trying to marry off and whom Klink is scared of.[28] Klink
narrowly escapes from this fate several times with the help of Colonel Hogan.
Klink later learns that the two other Stalag commandants under Burkhalter's
command also narrowly escaped marriage to Frau Linkmeyer. In "War Takes a
Holiday", Klink tries to flatter Schultz, a businessman in civilian life, hoping
to be hired as a bookkeeper with Schultz's toy company now that he falsely
thinks the war is over.
Sergeant Schultz
John Banner as Schultz with Bob Crane as
Colonel Hogan.
Not to be confused with Private Schulz.
Hauptfeldwebel (Senior Master Sergeant) Hans
Georg Schultz (John Banner), serial number 23781, is Klink's
bumbling, inept and a bit dimwitted, but affable if not lovable, 300-pound Sergeant of the Guard who is forever taking small
bribes from the prisoners with whom he is overly friendly. The bribes are
usually in the form of chocolate from Red
Cross packages or LeBeau's delicious cooking often in exchange
for information. His main goal is to avoid trouble and as long as he does, or at
least gets out of trouble, he doesn't overly concern himself too much about the
prisoners' activities. However, when Schultz is confronted by evidence of the
prisoners' suspicious activities ("monkey business" as he calls it) and feels he
must report them to Klink, Hogan will use some means — such as reminding Schultz
of all the bribes he would have to report to Klink, convince Schultz he
shouldn't reporting anything. When a prisoner is missing, Hogan will assure him
that the prisoner will be back. Although Schultz repeatedly tries to avoid
reporting anything or at least having Klink find out, if he does report what is
going on to Klink, Hogan and his men are usually able to cover up the problem
before Klink arrives. Sometimes Schultz, not wanting to deal with the situation,
will simply look the other way, repeating "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know
nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, simply "I see
nothing–NOTHING!"). This eventually became one of the main catchphrases of the series and probably the most
widely used by fans of the show. Just the same, if Schultz is found to be
derelict in his duty, he could easily be court-martialed, sent to the Russian
Front to fight in the bitter cold or not shot as a traitor for
his apparent complicity. When Schultz does get into trouble (usually on account
of the prisoners) Hogan, as with Klink, tries to find a way to clear Schultz if
for no other reason to avoid having him replaced with a more competent soldier
who isn't as easily manipulated. Though generally shown as being borderline
incompetent, he has (on occasions) proven his mettle, as can be seen in episodes
such as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London",[30] where
he catches Hogan assisting another man attempting to escape; he even goes so far
as to stand up to Hogan, moving him along at gunpoint.
Like Colonel Klink, he is a veteran of World War I. His hometown is Heidelberg, and in civilian life he is the owner
of Germany's biggest and most successful toy manufacturing company, The Schatzi
Toy Company.[29] With
the onset of war, Schultz was involuntarily recalled to military duty and lost
control of his toy factory as it was converted to military use. He has a wife,
Gretchen (played by Barbara Morrison) and five children whom he sees
only during infrequent leave. However, a few times he is unfaithful to his wife,
for instance in "Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari" he dates a woman who, as it
turns out, is a secret Gestapo agent.[31]
LeBeau once refers to Schultz as a Social Democrat, a party which the Nazis banned in 1933, and Schultz on several
occasions is shown to be very disgusted by Hitler in particular and the Nazis in
general. In one episode he mentions how much he preferred having a kaiser rule Germany and his whole attitude can be
summed up by his statement that "When it comes to war, I don't like to take
sides". Schultz is also a bad gambler, frequently playing cards with the
prisoners, and usually losing - although much of this is caused by Newkirk
fixing the games in order to get information from Schultz (in exchange for the
money he lost or for money to gamble). He also likes to drink a bit especially
whenever free liquor is available, but above all Schultz loves to eat - a
whole lot - especially LeBeau's exquisite cooking. He is described by Klink
as being "in his forties."[24] In
real life, Banner was in his late fifties. When the prisoners make fun of
Schultz he calls them "Jolly Jokers".
Schultz carries a Krag-Jørgensen rifle, which he never keeps loaded
and tends to misplace or even hand to the POWs when he needs to use both hands
(he then might say "Give me back my gun, or I'll SHOOT!"). He never wears the
chin-strap on his helmet and needs glasses to read[32] He
wears a fictitious version of the Iron Cross (4th Grade) awarded by General Kammler
(Whit
Bissell), a friend whom Schultz mentored during World War I and
addresses Schultz by first name, and whom Schultz addresses as Lieutenant Kammler (the rank he held during World
War I).[33]
Recurring characters
secretaries of Colonel Klink. Both Fräulein Helga and Fräulein Hilda were
portrayed as having ongoing flirting and kissing relationships with Colonel
Hogan. Both assist Hogan and his men in various ways, including providing
tidbits of information, access to official papers or equipment or at least
remaining indifferent towards their suspicious conduct in exchange for a warm
kiss or some other form of affectionate gesture from Hogan. In the pilot
episode,[18] Helga
works as manicurist in the prisoners' underground barber shop, but it is only in
the pilot episode that it is suggested her cooperation with the prisoners is all
that extensive. Eventually, during the run of the TV series, it is implied that
Hilda and Hogan have a running romance, especially when she hints at getting a
diamond engagement ring in exchange for her help. Sigrid Valdis and Bob Crane
were married in 1970 on the show's set in Culver City, Calif., where all of the interior
and some of the exterior scenes of Hogan's Heroes were filmed. Nearly all
of the crewmen and women, and all the cast members of the TV series were
present, and Richard Dawson served as the best man to the groom.
- General der Infanterie Albert Hans "Hansi"
Burkhalter (Leon
Askin) is Klink's heavyset superior officer who is gruff and
frequently tires of Klink's babbling and incompetence, often telling him to
"shut up" and threatens to send him to the Russian
Front. Burkhalter is mystified by Stalag 13's perfect record,
unable to make sense of it in combination with its Kommandant's frequently
evidenced incompetence. Klink's outstanding record at Stalag 13 is the primary
reason for General Burkhalter never actually making good on any of his threats
towards Klink. General Burkhalter's confusion over Klink's skill as a Kommandant
when he appears to be an idiot in all other regards is a running
gag. Burkhalter affected to live a Spartan existence like a good
German officer, but in reality, he loves the good life, even in war. He is
scared to death of Mrs. Burkhalter (calling her "the highest authority in
Germany"), testifying to this several times during the series and after Hogan
manages to get a few compromising photos of the General with very attractive
women (in order to blackmail him). As the series progresses, he suspects Hogan's
greater role at Stalag 13; however, in the end, Burkhalter, like the others,
comes to depend upon Hogan to get them out of trouble with the High Command when
one scheme or the other runs off the tracks. In the pilot episode,[18]
Burkhalter is promoted from colonel to general by the High Command between the
first and second episodes. His rank is equivalent to a lieutenant (three-star)
general in the American armed forces.
- Sturmbannführer (Major) Wolfgang Hochstetter (Howard Caine), of the Gestapo and the SS (Schultzstaffel), is an ardent Nazi who never
understands why Hogan is constantly allowed to barge into Klink's office at
will. Hochstetter frequently demands of Klink "Who is this man?" or "What is
this man doing here?!" with increasing stridency. His catchphrase is "Heads will roll". He is also
noted for the many times he shouts "Baah!" at Klink or Hogan after his multiple
failures. Klink is justifiably afraid of him, but Burkhalter, who despises
Hochstetter just as Klink does, is not. But even Hochstetter is manipulated by
Hogan. In "War Takes a Holiday",[29] Hogan
tricks Hochstetter into believing that the war has ended and lending his staff
car to several captured underground leaders, who use it to escape just as
Hochstetter's superiors arrive. Howard Caine played two other German officers in
the series, Gestapo Kriminaldirektor (Colonel) Feldkamp[34] and
Major Keitel,[35]
before becoming Major Hochstetter. Throughout the series, the rank insignia on
Hochstetter's collar is that of a Standartenführer (or Kriminaldirektor if he was
not also in the SS) which was equivalent to Oberst (colonel) in the Wehrmacht—a major in the
Gestapo would be a Sturmbannführer (or Kriminalrat if he was not
also concurrently an SS officer).
- Group Captain (Colonel) Rodney Crittendon (Bernard Fox) is a Royal Air Force group captain whose medals include the Distinguished
Service Order, Order of the British Empire, Military Cross and Bar, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Force Cross. He is a hopelessly incompetent
British officer who crosses paths several times with Hogan and his crew. He
believes that a POW's only duty is to escape and to be involved in anything is
else is strictly against regulations. When first transferred to Stalag 13 from
Stalag 18, Hogan poses a hypothetical question to Crittendon asking what he
would do if he were aware the POWs were engaged in spying and sabotage;
Crittendon replies that he would report them to the German authorities (thus
preventing him from being included in the official mission of the Stalag 13
POWs). However, in a third season episode Crittendon volunteers to replace Hogan
as the group's leader since he is familiar with the members of the team (even
though he has only had a measly two-day training course in espionage and
sabotage).[36]
Crittendon is also known for developing and attempting to execute various forms
of prison camp escapes that never work, and for coming up with the secret
"Crittendon Plan", which turns out to consist of planting geraniums along the sides of runways to cheer up
returning British pilots.[37] In a
dual role, Bernard Fox played British traitor Sir Charles Chitterly (possibly a
parody of William Joyce known as Lord
Haw-Haw), who, along with his wife Lady Leslie Chitterly (Anne Rogers), are visiting the camp and their way
to see their friend Adolf Hitler. Lookalike Crittendon, who was parachuted into
the camp, replaces Sir Charles and is briefly able to fool his wife. After she
discovers the truth, she decides not to reveal this to the Germans. Meanwhile
the real Sir Charles escapes and wonders around the camp.[38][39] The
rank "colonel" is inaccurate since, although the pay grades are equivalent, a
group captain is never addressed as "colonel". However, his character may have
been called colonel because most of the American television audience, unfamiliar
with British military ranks, undoubtedly would have been confused as to how
Crittendon outranked Hogan (Crittendon has 12 years seniority over Hogan because
Crittendon has been stuck at colonel for so long, however, Crittendon admits
that he's been behind a desk for many years).[40]
- Marya (Nita Talbot) is a Russian spy who works
occasionally with Hogan, but whom he does not entirely trust. She often appears
as the trusted paramour of some high-ranking German officer or
scientist. Her mission is to either discredit or destroy her paramours, as she
notes that "...We cannot trust Hitler to shoot all his own generals".[41] She
meets Hogan and LeBeau in Paris during the second season where she learns of his
Stalag 13 activities.[3][4] Her
schemes often come into conflict with Hogan's plans, but she nevertheless always
proves to be either faithful to the Allied cause or having compatible causes of
her own. She is described as a "White Russian", but it is unclear whether this
refers to her possible ethnicity as a Belarusian or her possible political allegiance
to the Russian anti-communist White Movement (thus allowing her character to
remain apolitical - while the Soviet Union was an ally during the war, when the
series was filmed anti-communist/anti-Soviet feeling ran high in the U.S., see
the Cold War). Marya is constantly flirting with
Hogan, to his discomfort, and also flirts with LeBeau, who believes her to be an
innocent, decent woman who won't sell out or get the Heroes in trouble (at least
not on purpose). Her trademark line, said with an exaggerated Russian accent, is "Hogan, Dah-link" (Hogan
Darling in normal English).
- Tiger (Arlene Martel) is a beautiful female French Underground contact, who has a running
romance with Hogan and appears in the series a few times. Hogan has noted that
Tiger has saved his life at least once. Hogan describes Tiger as 'the' leader of
the French Underground. He frees her from the Gestapo twice: once on the way to Berlin via
train, and once springing her from Gestapo headquarters in Paris, France.[3][4]
- Hauptmann (Captain) Fritz or Felix Gruber (Dick Wilson) is Klink's adjutant who is rarely
seen (Dick Wilson also played several other characters in the series including a
member of the Underground). However, in "Don't Forget to Write",[42]
Gruber becomes the new ruthless Kommandant of Stalag 13 after Klink mistakenly
volunteers for the Russian Front. Because Gruber is rather hard
lined and not at all easy to manipulate, the prisoners desperately want to get
Klink back. Hogan then orders three prisoners to escape and hide. When Gruber is
unable to recapture them Burkhalter turns to Klink to recapture the prisoners,
which he does with the help of Hogan. General Burkhalter sees that it would be a
mistake to send Klink to the Russian Front and gives Klink his old job back.
In addition to Gruber, several other junior officers or more capable NCO's
are occasionally assigned to Klink's command, but one way or another Hogan finds
a way to get rid of them. In one episode, Hogan pretends to be Klink's adjutant,
a "Major Hogan Hüppel", to fool some German officers. During most of Hogan's
Heroes, there is a conspicuous omission of any second-in-command to
Kommandant Klink, and in fact, the omission of any junior Luftwaffe officers at all (however, there was an
apparent adjutant to Klink in the pilot episode[18]).
Klink claims he doesn't need one and often feels threatened by more competent
officers, even junior officers. In reality, a Stalag like this one had more than
a few officers with the ranks of Leutnant (lieutenant), Hauptmann (captain), and
Major (major) carrying out their duties under the command of the Kommandant (if
for no other reason because a camp commander cannot be on duty at the camp 24
hours a day, 365 days a year, in all parts of the camp at the same time). This
omission may have been a plot ploy as it would be much easier for Hogan to
control what happens with only Klink to manipulate (as opposed to an entire
staff of camp officers) and for the TV audience to follow along. Additionally,
an entire staff of German officers might have looked disproportionate since the
series rarely showed many prisoners--roll call seemed to consist only of
prisoners from a single barracks, for instance.
- Obergefreiter (Corporal) Karl Langenscheidt (Jon
Cedar) is one of Schultz's guards who is only seen or spoken of
occasionally. He often arrives at the worst of times and also informs the
distraught Colonel Klink when an important guest arrives, much to Klink's
displeasure. In "Art for Hogan's Sake", Langenscheidt gets involved in Hogan's
scheme to forge the famous Édouard Manet priceless painting, "The Fife
Player", and switch it for the real one General Burkhalter had
"requisitioned" from the Louvre museum in Paris to give to Hermann Göring as a birthday present.[43]
- Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer (née Burkhalter) (Kathleen Freeman, played once by Alice Ghostley[44]) is
General Burkhalter's gruff and homely sister whom he tries to marry off, notably
to Klink who knows marrying her would help his career. However, she is usually
in a one-sided relationship as Klink is scared to death of her, but Hogan
manages to split the two one way or another. A running gag in several episodes
with her is that Klink can run away with her husband Otto who, she sometimes
protests, is only missing in action on the Russian
Front (but as General Burkhalter says, missing in action on the
Russian Front "is as good as dead"). In one
episode Hogan commented "You two can start a club".[44] In
another running gag Klink threatens to have Hogan shot for even suggesting he
could marry Frau Linkmeyer. In "Kommandant Gertrude",[45] Frau
Linkmeyer arrives at the camp with her new (reluctant) fiancé, Major Wolgang
Karp (Lee
Bergere), who she intends to replace Klink as camp commandant
under her iron-fisted supervision, but Hogan manages to foil her plans and their
engagement. She only appears in episodes with General Burkhalter.
- Maurice Dubay (Felice Orlandi) is a French Underground contact who appeared in
several episodes. (Orlandi's real-life wife, Alice Ghostley, appeared in two episodes, one
time assuming the role of Frau Linkmeyer[44] and
in the other as Mrs. Mannheim).[46]
- Maggiore (Major) Bonacelli is a visiting
commander of an Italian prisoner-of-war camp who is at Stalag 13 to learn
Klink's techniques for no escapes, but is actually not too supportive of the
Fascist war effort, particularly the German war effort. In "The Pizza Parlor",
Hogan dissuades Major Bonacelli (Hans Conried) from defecting to neutral
Switzerland convinces him to act as an Allied spy at his POW camp.[47] In
"The Return of Major Boncelli" (this time played by Vito Scotti), Hogan talks Bonacelli into
photographing the new advanced German anti-aircraft gun before defecting to Switzerland
(while he's pursued by the Gestapo).[