THE FLYING MONOCLE AND THE STOIC GENERAL OF STALAG 13

The interviewer’s office is filled with the kind of soft, golden light that only seems to exist in late-afternoon California. Werner Klemperer sits across from me, looking remarkably…

THE DAY THE TERRIFYING SERGEANT SCHULTZ FELL APART

I was sitting in a small, wood-paneled radio booth in Los Angeles back in the late nineties, doing one of those retrospective interviews that actors of a certain…

WE LAUGHED BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE… UNTIL THE MUSIC STOPPED

The sun was setting over the backlot of 40 Acres in Culver City, casting long, skeletal shadows across the dust. It was years after the cameras had stopped…

THE DAY SERGEANT SCHULTZ FINALLY ADMITTED TO SEEING EVERYTHING

The late-night talk show set was quiet, the smell of floor wax and stale coffee lingering in the air. John Banner sat back in the leather chair, his…

THE DAY JOHN BANNER FINALLY SAW EVERYTHING ON SET

The studio light reflects off the mahogany table as Robert Clary settles into his chair. He is in his late eighties now, but the spark in his eyes…

THE COMMANDANT CONDUCTS A SYMPHONY OF UNEXPECTED LAUGHTER

The studio lights were dim, the kind of amber glow you only see on late-night talk shows in the early nineties. Werner Klemperer sat there, looking every bit…

THE LEGENDARY NIGHT RICHARD DAWSON BROKE COMMANDANT KLINK ON SET

It is funny how a single sound or a specific smell can bring it all back to you. I was sitting in this small, dimly lit podcast studio…

THE DAY THE MONOCLE DECIDED TO TAKE A STICKY DIVE

The studio light was a soft, warm amber, and the air smelled faintly of stale coffee and expensive microphones. Werner Klemperer sat across from me, looking every bit…

THE COMMANDANT THE CORPORAL AND THE GREAT DELI SANDWICH DISASTER

It is a crisp afternoon in the late 1990s, and the fluorescent lights of a hotel ballroom are humming with the quiet energy of a dedicated crowd. Werner…

WERNER KLEMPERER AND THE REBELLIOUS MONOCLE OF STALAG 13

The studio lights were always a bit too bright, even for a documentary crew. I sat there in that high-backed leather chair, decades removed from the gates of…