THE MAN WHO SAW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT THE GROCERY STORE
The studio lights were always a bit too bright for John Banner, even years after the final curtain had fallen on Stalag 13. He sat there, leaning forward…
THE DAY JOHN BANNER ATE THE ENTIRE BARRACKS PROP BUDGET
The interviewer leans forward, the stage lights reflecting off the polished wood of the small table between them. It is a quiet afternoon in a Los Angeles studio,…
THE DAY THE BARRACKS TURNED INTO A COMEDY CLUB FOR REAL
It is funny how the mind works when you get to be my age. You can forget what you had for breakfast, but you can remember the exact…
THE SCRIPT CALLED FOR A TOAST BUT HARRY MORGAN GAVE HIS SOUL
The light in the room was soft, the kind of amber glow that makes everything feel like a memory before it even happens. Mike Farrell sat across from…
JAMIE FARR WORE THE DRESS BUT THE SHOES HAD OTHER PLANS
The studio lights were low, and the microphone was positioned just inches from Jamie Farr’s face as he sat across from the podcast host. He was leaning back,…
THE ACTOR PLAYED AN ARISTOCRAT BUT ONE SCENE BROKE HIM COMPLETELY.
The restaurant was quiet, the kind of place in Los Angeles where the booths are deep and the lighting is forgiving. Loretta Swit sat across from David Ogden…
THE DAY MAXWELL KLINGER WAS DEFEATED BY A WEDDING DRESS IN MALIBU
The studio lights were a bit humbler than the ones we had back at the Fox Ranch, but they were bright enough to make the dust motes dance…
THEY BUIILT A TUNNEL TO FREEDOM… BUT THE REAL ESCAPE WAS THE LAUGHTER
The sun was hitting the pavement at Paramount in a way that felt like forty years had never passed. Richard Dawson stood there, shielding his eyes, looking at…
THE MONOCLE IS GONE BUT THE WEIGHT OF THE COFFEE MUG REMAINS
Werner Klemperer stood in the center of the old Paramount backlot, the California sun beating down on a space that used to be a world of snow and…
THE COFFEE POT STILL HUMMED BUT THE CAMP WAS GONE
The old studio lot was a skeleton of its former self, a maze of peeling paint and quiet echoes where the laughter of a hundred crews used to…