Werner Klemperer

Age: 80 (passed away Dec. 6th, 2000)
Height:

Birth Place: Cologne, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Born: Mar. 22nd, 1920

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Werner Klemperer's Main TV Roles

NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB

BIOGRAPHY:

Werner Klemperer, everyone's favorite TV German Air Force colonel, was best known for his role as the bumbling Col. Wilhelm Klink on the comedy series "Hogan's Heroes" (1965). Although he'll forever be known as the blustering but inept German commandant of Stalag 13, Klemperer was in fact a talented dramatic actor, as evidenced by his acclaimed performance as an arrogant, unrepentant Nazi judge being tried for crimes against humanity in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). His identification with Nazi roles notwithstanding, Klemperer was in real life the son of a Jew who fled with his family from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. When he was offered the Col. Klink role, Klemperer only agreed to do it if the show's producers promised that Klink would never succeed in any of his schemes. "Col. Klink" earned Klemperer five Emmy nominations, and he took home the trophy twice, in 1968 and 1969. After the series, Klemperer carved out an impressive musical career as a conductor and also served as a narrator with many major U.S. symphony orchestras. He was an accomplished concert violinist.

TRIVIA:

Served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1945.
He appeared as Pasha Selim in the Mozart opera "The Abduction From the Seraglio".
He conducted the Buffalo Orchestra.
Klemperer agreed to take the role of Col. Klink in _"Hogan's Heroes" (1965)_ (qv) only on the condition that none of Klink's schemes would ever succeed and that he would always wind up looking foolish.
During his guest appearance on "The Pat Sajak Show" (1989) he was presented with a monocle by Pat Sajak, as the host had learned that Werner's original monocle from his "Hogan's Heroes" (1965) days had recently been taken from his personal collection.
Son of conductor 'Otto Klemperer' (qv).
One of his favorite works was as narrator in "Peter and the Wolf," which he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
His last acting role was as Colonel Klink, his most famous character, on a 1993 episode of _"The Simpsons" (1989)_ (qv).

Werner Klemperer Photos

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Show	Character(s)
Hogan's Heroes	Col. Wilhel&hellip
Behind Closed Doors	Slavko
Men into Space	Major Krale&hellip
The Islanders	Michel Serati
The Leslie Uggams Show	Werner Klem&hellip
The Lloyd Bridges Show	Gustavsen
The Mike Douglas Show	Co-host (3)
The Movie Game	Werner Klem&hellip
The Rhinemann Exchange	Franz Altmu&hellip