# Werner Klemperer
**Werner Klemperer** (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was a German-born American actor best known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the inept prison-camp commandant on the CBS sitcom *Hogan's Heroes* (1965–1971), a role that won him two [Primetime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-awards). He was the son of the conductor Otto Klemperer and fled [Nazi Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/nazi-germany) with his Jewish family in 1935, yet spent much of his career playing German officers, including serious Nazi roles in the films *Judgment at Nuremberg* and *Operation Eichmann* (both 1961).[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) • [2](https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/12/08/Hogans-Heroes-star-Klemperer-dead-at-80/1890976251600/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | March 22, 1920, Cologne, Germany; December 6, 2000, New York City, of cancer, aged 80[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) |
| Signature role | Colonel Wilhelm Klink on *Hogan's Heroes*, CBS, 1965–1971, six seasons and 175 episodes[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) |
| Emmy record | Five nominations, two wins, in 1968 and 1969, for supporting actor in a comedy[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/werner-klemperer) |
| Acting condition | He agreed to play Klink only if the character never succeeded: "If ever a segment was written where Colonel Klink is the winner, I would leave the show"[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) |
| Serious Nazi roles | Emil Hahn, an unrepentant Nazi judge, in *Judgment at Nuremberg* (1961); the title role in *Operation Eichmann* (1961); Lt. Heebner in *Ship of Fools* (1965)[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) |
| Stage honor | Tony nomination, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, for the 1988 Broadway revival of *Cabaret* as Herr Schultz[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Werner+Klemperer) |
| Family | Son of conductor Otto Klemperer, formerly of the Los Angeles Philharmonic[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-08-me-62884-story.html) |
## Early life and flight from Germany
Klemperer was born in Cologne, where his father Otto Klemperer was a leading conductor and composer.[2](https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/12/08/Hogans-Heroes-star-Klemperer-dead-at-80/1890976251600/) The family left Germany in 1935, when Werner was still in his teens, because of his father's Jewish birth, and settled in the United States; Otto Klemperer later served as conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[2](https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/12/08/Hogans-Heroes-star-Klemperer-dead-at-80/1890976251600/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-08-me-62884-story.html) Klemperer trained at the [Pasadena Playhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-playhouse), where he made his professional debut in *The Trojan Horse*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/)
During World War II he served in the US Army, touring the Pacific in productions of *Macbeth* and *Arsenic and Old Lace*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) After the war he worked in New York as a radio and stage actor, and made his Broadway debut in 1947; eight years later he played opposite [Tallulah Bankhead](https://www.edgepedia.org/tallulah-bankhead) in *Dear Charles*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/)
## Colonel Klink and *Hogan's Heroes*
*Hogan's Heroes* was a first for American television: a sitcom set in a German prisoner-of-war camp, Luft Stalag 13, in which Allied prisoners routinely outwitted their captors.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the monocled, vain, and foolish [Luftwaffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/luftwaffe) commandant, opposite [Bob Crane](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-crane) as Colonel Hogan.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) The series ran 175 episodes over six seasons, from 1965 to 1971, and continued in worldwide reruns, including in Germany, where it became a cult hit.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/)
**The condition he set.** Klemperer was often asked how a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany could play a Nazi officer for comedy. He set one term when he took the job: "If ever a segment was written where Colonel Klink is the winner, I would leave the show."[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) He also claimed to have added the monocle and riding crop that he brandished as the buffoonish commandant.[7](https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/683464/hogans-heroes-60th-anniversary-critics-jewish-clary-klemperer/) The casting of Jewish refugees in the German roles was deliberate: the show's creators hired Jewish actors to play the Nazis, and Klemperer, John Banner (Sergeant Schultz), Leon Askin, and Howard Caine all played German officers.[7](https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/683464/hogans-heroes-60th-anniversary-critics-jewish-clary-klemperer/) • [8](https://gettysburgian.com/2019/02/the-cultural-context-of-hogans-heroes/) The show itself never mentioned Jews or the Holocaust.[7](https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/683464/hogans-heroes-60th-anniversary-critics-jewish-clary-klemperer/)
Klemperer was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy in each of the show's first five award years, 1966 through 1970, and won in 1968 and 1969.[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/werner-klemperer)
## Serious roles and the Nazi typecast
Before *Hogan's Heroes*, Klemperer had shown he could play Nazis without comedy. In [Stanley Kramer](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-kramer)'s *Judgment at Nuremberg* (1961) he played Emil Hahn, an arrogant, unrepentant Nazi judge tried for crimes against humanity, and the same year he took the title role in *Operation Eichmann*, portraying [Adolf Eichmann](https://www.edgepedia.org/adolf-eichmann), the administrator of the [Final Solution](https://www.edgepedia.org/final-solution).[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/) He also appeared in *Ship of Fools* (1965) as Lt. Heebner.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/)
The identification with German roles cut both ways. He regretted being so strongly typed as a German character actor and made a conscious choice to turn down German or Nazi roles after the series.[10](https://playbill.com/article/werner-klemperer-character-actor-from-stage-and-hogans-heroes-dead-at-80-com-93681) In later television work he appeared as a guest star on series including *Law & Order* and voiced Colonel Klink as [Homer Simpson](https://www.edgepedia.org/homer-simpson)'s guardian angel on *The Simpsons* in 1989.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/)
## Music and the stage
Klemperer was a trained musician, an accomplished concert violinist, and the son of one of the century's leading conductors, and he drew parallels between performing comedy and playing an instrument.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) He devoted much of his later career to narrating concerts with leading orchestras, work preserved in television appearances such as *The Mostly Mozart Festival* (PBS, 1990) and *Barenboim Conducts Strauss* (PBS, 1993) and in recordings including a 1994 performance of Berlioz's *Lelio* with the Milwaukee Symphony.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) He also recorded the narration for Schoenberg's oratorio *Gurre-Lieder* for Philips Classics.[7](https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/683464/hogans-heroes-60th-anniversary-critics-jewish-clary-klemperer/)
On stage he played [Cyrano de Bergerac](https://www.edgepedia.org/cyrano-de-bergerac) in Los Angeles in 1973, then found his greatest late triumph in the 1988 Broadway revival of *Cabaret*, playing the Jewish boarder Herr Schultz, a role that brought a Tony nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/) • [5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Werner+Klemperer)
## Death
Klemperer died of cancer on December 6, 2000, at his home in New York City, after a six-month illness, at the age of 80.[1](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-08-me-62884-story.html)
## References
1. [Werner Klemperer Dies, The Washington Post (December 8, 2000)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/12/09/werner-klemperer-dies/2b3bea2b-dce8-4c25-a572-a5e6af6a5b89/)
2. ['Hogan's Heroes' star Klemperer dead at 80, UPI Archives (December 8, 2000)](https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/12/08/Hogans-Heroes-star-Klemperer-dead-at-80/1890976251600/)
3. [Werner Klemperer, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/werner-klemperer)
4. [Werner Klemperer, Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/werner-klemperer/)
5. [Werner Klemperer Tony Awards Wins and Nominations, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Werner+Klemperer)
6. [Werner Klemperer; Played Col. Klink in 'Hogan's Heroes', Los Angeles Times (December 8, 2000)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-08-me-62884-story.html)
7. [Were critics of 'Hogan's Heroes' actually right?, The Forward](https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/683464/hogans-heroes-60th-anniversary-critics-jewish-clary-klemperer/)
8. [The Cultural Context of 'Hogan's Heroes', The Gettysburgian](https://gettysburgian.com/2019/02/the-cultural-context-of-hogans-heroes/)
9. [Werner Klemperer, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/)
10. [Werner Klemperer, Character Actor From Stage and 'Hogan's Heroes,' Dead at 80, Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/werner-klemperer-character-actor-from-stage-and-hogans-heroes-dead-at-80-com-93681)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames J to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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