Hogan's Heroes

About Hogan's Heroes

Set during World War II this popular sitcom proved that a prisoner-of-war camp was as good a site as any for laughs.

Stalag 13 is a prisoner-of-war camp like no other - a French chef a teamroom a barbershop so comfortable that many of the Allied prisoners incarcertated there have no desire to escape. First broadcast in 1965, Hogan's Heroes came at a time when the sight of a German army helmet was a terrifying mark of a villain. But the producers were careful to ensure that the senior Allied officer Colonel Robert Hogan and his men would have hero status, using special training to smuggle a stream of classified information past the incompetent German guards to assist Allied forces who took one year longer than the actual war to arrive.

Featured were Bob Crane as Colonel Robert Hogan; Werner Klemperer as Colonel Wilhelm Klink its inept commandant (and a viewer favourite); John Banner as Segeant Hans Schultz Klink's chief aide; Robert Peter Newkirk a British prisoner; Ivan Dixon (1965-1970) as Corporal James Kinchloe; Larry Hovis as Sergeant Andrew Carter; Kenneth Washington (1970-1971) as Corporal Richard Baker; Cynthia Lynn (1965-1966) as Klink's secretary Helga; and Sigrid Valdis (1966-1970) as Klink's secretary Hilda. Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy created the series and Ed Feldman produced it for Bing Crosby Productions. There were 168 episodes created. Ironically, John Banner who played the Nazi Schultz was actually Jewish and Robert Clary who played the imprisoned LeBeau had been interned in Nazi concentration camps as a child.