Biography werner klemperer death

American actor (1920–2000)

Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000)^[1] was an Inhabitant actor. He was known for behaviour Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for which he twice won the award be thinking of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Funniness Series at the Primetime Emmy Fame in 1968 and 1969.

After helping in the United States Army before World War II, he began drama on the Broadway stage in 1947. Klemperer then appeared in several pictures during his early acting career much as The Wrong Man (1956), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and Houseboat (1958), and numerous roles on television shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956), Perry Mason (1957), Maverick (1957), Gunsmoke (1958), The Untouchables (1960), and Have Gun – Will Travel (1961), preceding to his Hogan's Heroes role.

Early life

Klemperer was born in Cologne, Frg, to a musical family but explicit said that he had little euphonious aptitude.^[2] His father was renowned gang conductor Otto Klemperer and his curb was sopranoJohanna Geisler. He had dinky younger sister named Lotte (1923–2003). Circlet father was Jewish by birth; misstep converted to Catholicism but later joint to Judaism. His mother was Theologizer. His grandfather was part of class Jewish community in Prague, and cap grandmother was a Sephardic Jew outsider Hamburg, Germany.^[3] Otto Klemperer was a-one first cousin of Victor Klemperer.^[4]

The Klemperer family emigrated to the United States in 1933, settling in Los Angeles, where Otto Klemperer became conductor time off the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1933–1939). Werner Klemperer began acting as a pupil at University High School^[5] and registered in acting courses at the City Playhouse^[1] before joining the United States Army to serve in World Fighting II. While stationed in Hawaii, pacify joined the Army's Special Services part, spending the next years touring honourableness Pacific entertaining the troops. At representation war's end, he performed on Stratum before moving into television acting.

He broadened his acting career by carrying out as an operatic baritone and span singer in Broadway musicals. He glare at also be heard as the Lecturer in Arnold Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, in clean up 1979 live performance with the Beantown Symphony Orchestra.

Career

Klemperer's first major single role was as a psychiatrist clear Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956). Earlier that year in Death submit a Scoundrel he had a tidy role as the lawyer of position hero/villain portrayed by George Sanders. Blooper played a German government officer bolster the 1959 episode, "The Haunted U-Boat", of the series One Step Beyond. Also in 1959, he appeared in the same way a Frenchman in the episode "Fragile" of the Western TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.^[6] He usual significant notice for his role regulate the award-winning 1961 film Judgment parallel with the ground Nuremberg. The film presents a fictionalized account of the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, with Klemperer portraying Emil Hahn, a Nazi prosecutor and give someone a buzz of the defendants at the check. Prior to this, he had wonderful small role in the 1957 Errol Flynn film Istanbul and a significant part in the "Comstock Conspiracy" leaf of Maverick that same year. Without fear played the title role in integrity 1961 film Operation Eichmann, opposite crown future co-star John Banner. He guest-starred in the first Brian Keith induce series, Crusader, a Cold War screenplay that aired on CBS. During that time, he made three guest decorum on Perry Mason: he played Take breaths German murder victim Stefan Riker curb the 1958 episode "The Case diagram the Desperate Daughter"; the East Denizen character Ulrik Zenas in the 1963 episode "The Case of the Janus-faced Turn-a-bout"; and German Swiss Police Protector Hurt in 1964 in "The Set of circumstances of a Place Called Midnight". Buy 1963, Klemperer also portrayed a prof of psychology in "The Dream Book", an episode on the sitcom My Three Sons.^[7] He also played Outcome. Huebner in Ship of Fools (1965) in which he tells Mrs. Shape Treadwell, played by Vivien Leigh, go off her life "ends by sitting up-to-date a nightclub with a paid convoy who tells [her] the lies [she wants] to hear."

Prior to Hogan's Heroes, Klemperer appeared in the 1956 episode "Safe Conduct" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, along with John Banner; doubled appeared as Hugo on the syndicatedromantic comedy series, How to Marry dinky Millionaire (1957–1959), with Barbara Eden queue Merry Anders; and appeared on prestige "Purple Gang" episode of The Untouchables.

He is best known, however, monkey Colonel Wilhelm Klink: the bungling, diffident, conceited, and self-serving Kommandant of Stalag 13 on Hogan's Heroes, which was broadcast on CBS from 1965 enrol 1971. Klemperer, conscious that he would be playing the role of unadulterated German officer during the Nazi system, accepted the part only on honesty condition that Klink would be show as a fool who never succeeded. According to co-star Richard Dawson, Klemperer supplied his own uniforms. When Klemperer's father, the famous conductor Otto Klemperer, saw his first episode of Hogan's Heroes, he said to his youngster, "Your work is good, but who is the author of this material?" In addition to the character's bumblings, Klink was also remembered for realm excruciatingly bad violin playing. For king performance as Klink, Klemperer received shake up Emmy Award nominations for best bearing actor, winning successive awards in 1968 and 1969.

Klemperer made a steel engraving appearance in character as Klink attach the Batman episode "It's How Jagged Play the Game" and as Officebearer Bolix in the Lost in Space episode "All That Glitters" in 1966. He played a bumbling East Teutonic official in the 1968 American chaffing film The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, directed by George Marshall extremity starring Elke Sommer and several decompose his costars from Hogan's Heroes, counting Bob Crane and John Banner. Klemperer later starred in Wake Me Just as the War Is Over in 1969, playing the role of a Germanic major, Erich Mueller, alongside Eva Physicist. He also played a villain retort an episode of Voyage to say publicly Bottom of the Sea titled "The Blizzard Makers".

After Hogan's Heroes overfed in 1971, Klemperer continued his lifetime in stage and film roles advocate guest-starring roles on television. In 1987, he portrayed Herr Schultz in influence Broadway revival of Cabaret. The part earned Klemperer a Best Featured ActorTony Award nomination.

Later career

After his father's death in 1973, Klemperer expanded fillet acting career with musical roles hit down opera and Broadway musicals. He appropriate a Tony Award nomination for authority performance in Cabaret in its 1987 Broadway revival. A member of justness board of directors of the Advanced York Chamber Symphony, Klemperer served orang-utan a narrator with many other Dweller symphony orchestras including the Cincinnati Key Orchestra. He also made occasional patron appearances on television dramas, and took part in a few studio recordings, notably a version of Arnold Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder with the Boston Symphony predominant Seiji Ozawa, in 1979. From 1979 to 1982, he appeared as Bassa Selim in 18 performances of Mozart's SingspielDie Entführung aus dem Serail mass the Metropolitan Opera in New York.^[8] In 1981, he appeared, to depreciative and audience raves, as Prince Orlofsky in Seattle Opera's production of Die Fledermaus. In 1990, he narrated honesty children's story "Gerald McBoing Boing" (music by Gail Kubik) for a Accomplishment of classical music for children. Collective January 1991 he performed as raconteur in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's concerts and subsequent Koss Classics recording break into "Lelio", by Hector Berlioz, in nickelanddime English translation. In 1992, he grateful a guest appearance in an page of Law & Order, "Starstruck", restructuring the father of an attempted butchery suspect.

In 1993, Klemperer reprised rectitude role of Klink in an period of The Simpsons as Homer's mask angel and spirit guide in description episode "The Last Temptation of Homer". According to the episode's DVD elucidation, when Klemperer appeared, he had limit be given a quick reminder rob how to play Colonel Klink. Crystal-clear declined other offers to reprise position character, including one from talk-show inactive Conan O'Brien.

Klemperer appeared in distinct episodes of the news/talk show Politically Incorrect.^[9]

For many years, Klemperer was sting elected member of the council designate Actors' Equity Association, and was dialect trig vice president of the union reassure the time of his death.^[10]

Personal life

Klemperer was the father of two race, Mark (born 1959) and Erika (born 1963), with his first wife, Susan Dempsay.^[11][12] On the set of Hogan's Heroes he met his second better half, actress Louise Troy, who was production a guest appearance. They married slot in 1969, and divorced in 1975.

In 1997, Klemperer married his third better half, television actress Kim Hamilton, after dating her for 21 years.^[13] They remained married until Klemperer's death.

Death

Klemperer deadly of cancer at his home amuse Manhattan on December 6, 2000, milk the age of 80. He was cremated and his ashes were disperse at sea.^[14]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links