Reuters —Paris-born actor and singer Robert Clary, who survived 31 months in Nazi concentration camps but later co-starred in “Hogan’s Heroes,” the US sitcom set in a German World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp, has died at the age of 96.
“Hogan’s Heroes” starred Bob Crane as American Colonel Robert Hogan, with Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon playing other POWs.
“Hogan’s Heroes” was popular with TV viewers during its run on the CBS network and for decades afterward in syndication even though some critics considered it in bad taste.
In 1980, alarm over people trying to deny the Holocaust prompted Clary to end his self-imposed silence about his experiences.
He also wrote an autobiography, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes.”“We must learn from history,” Clary told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2002, “which we don’t.”