WERNER KLEMPERER AND THE CASE OF THE FALLING FRITZ HELMET
The interviewer leans forward, the stage lights catching the silver in Werner Klemperer’s hair. This is late in his career, and he’s at a retrospective event for classic…
THE DAY SCHULTZ LOST HIS COOL ON THE HOGAN’S HEROES SET
Richard Dawson sat back in the velvet-lined chair, the soft studio lights of the late-night retrospective catchings the silver in his hair. He had that familiar, mischievous glint…
THE ELEGANT IRONY OF THE MAN WHO PLAYED COLONEL KLINK
The studio lights were a bit softer than they used to be back at Paramount, and Werner Klemperer sat with the kind of poised, effortless grace that only…
JOHN BANNER RECALLS THE DAY SERGEANT SCHULTZ LITERALLY LOST HIS COLD LEATHER AUTHORITY
The studio lights were always a bit too bright for a man of my displacement, especially when you are wrapped in several layers of thick, authentic wool. I…
THE DAY THE MONOCLE DECIDED TO JOIN THE GENERAL FOR LUNCH
It was a rainy Tuesday night in 1984, and I was sitting in a small, cramped university theater for a retrospective on classic television. The room was packed…
THE DAY CORPORAL LEBEAU WAS FORCED TO RUN A REAL KITCHEN
The interviewer leans forward, shifting a few papers on the mahogany desk before pulling out a slightly yellowed, glossy eight-by-ten photograph. He slides it across to Robert Clary,…
WERNER KLEMPERER REVEALS THE DAY THE MONOCLE FINALLY FAILED HIM
“Werner, you were always known as the most disciplined man on that set,” I say, leaning toward the microphone. We are sitting in a quiet, dimly lit recording…
THE MAN BEHIND THE HELMET: JOHN BANNER’S UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER
Interviewer: John, looking back at Hogan’s Heroes, people always ask about the comedy, but for you, it must have been a bit surreal. You were a Jewish man…
THE RADIO WAS PLASTIC BUT THE SILENCE FELT HEAVILY REAL
The warehouse at the edge of the studio lot was a cathedral of forgotten things. It smelled of old sawdust, ozone, and the kind of heavy, settled dust…
THEY LAUGHED BENEATH THE BARRACKS… BUT THE SILENCE SPOKE LOUDER
The sun was dipping low over the old backlot in Culver City, casting long, skeletal shadows across the patch of dry earth where Stalag 13 used to stand….